[3] Virtual airlines also provide an avenue for members to gain access to additional content, such as aircraft and scenery, for use with their simulator.
These organizations also provide an outlet for those who are interested in aviation but unable to fly themselves in real life due to financial, health, or other reasons.
[8] Academics have stated that members of these groups can often show significant attachment and immersion in their activity, building strong relationships with those who they share their created "space" with.
Participants can become unusually dedicated and committed to their group through the forging of their strong bonds and sense of identity, despite the construct being entirely (or nearly entirely) fictional.
[10] Virtual airlines have been used, both directly and indirectly, as part of research projects at universities in both aviation, modelling, and statistical theory development.
It is believed that increased integration across these mediums provides a more immersive experience that enhances gameplay, being the primary reason for people to join the virtual groups.
These organizations are fictional constructs of the participants, who use the roleplaying environment of the group to add a sense of immersion to the gaming activity.
[2] Without basis on a real world entity, fictional virtual airlines are varied in their scope of both route and aircraft fleet.
[4] These virtual airlines tend to closely follow their real world counterparts in terms of aircraft fleet and routes offered.
[22] There are several elements that are common across many virtual airlines but none more so than a website as the focal point of the community, typically including an Internet forum where discussion and social interaction can occur.
From the early 21st century it became more common for virtual airlines to feature an Online database for recording and reporting flights and membership statistics.
Most virtual airlines have a specific ranking system for their pilots, that tend to involve restricting which airplanes the member is allowed to fly.
A key aspect of these pilot reports is logging the number of hours flown, which directly affects the members promotion to other ranks.
[22] In real-world airlines such a livery serves as an advertisement, establishes a sense of pride, and functions as a method for recognizing aircraft.
Using Microsoft Flight Simulator the custom livery can only be seen online if other participants have installed it or use specially developed tools for model matching, such as FLAi by the Boston Virtual ARTCC, therefore the benefit is largely for the individual and their sense of realism.
Liveries can be hosted on the website of the virtual airline, or more commonly provided publicly on a flight simulation site such as Flightsim.com or Avsim.com.
As with other online communities participants utilize chat software such as MSN Messenger, ICQ, and Skype to connected with other members, who may be distributed anywhere in the world.
[23][24] Claims have been made of the use of both flight simulators and virtual airlines as training devices for terrorist activities, although to date no conclusive link has ever been provided to indicate a situation where a virtual airline has provided flight simulation training to anyone involved in a terrorist activity.
[27] The 9/11 Commission in the US concluded in 2004 that those responsible for flying the planes into World Trade Center and The Pentagon had used PC-based flight simulators for training.
[26] Despite the initial concerns of the involvement of virtual airlines in these terrorist activities, largely little has come from these claims to date and no changes have been noted as occurring in their operation as a result.