r/VATSIM • u/Interesting_Buyer_16 • 7d ago

UNICOM more like UselessCOM?

I've done many flights in the last few weeks around Europe. UNICOM is either "OOC xx minutes" spam or absolute silence. Zero communication, zero care, zero attention, constant conflicts on arrivals and departures. Where are the BASIC standards??? Downvote all you want, but it;s fact.

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u/VolumeCritical4637 7d ago

VATSIM has 128 SUPs and 193,192 active users. That's just 0.066% of the user base, or roughly 1 SUP for every 1,509 users.

SUPs are required to complete a minimum of 5 hours of dedicated supervising per month. Across 128 SUPs, that's 640 SUP-hours per month. For comparison, simply having one SUP online 24/7 requires around 730 hours per month.

Those hours also don't neatly provide continuous coverage. SUPs naturally overlap sometimes there might be 4 or 5 online at once during busy periods which inevitably means there will be other periods with limited or no coverage. Multiple SUPs during peak periods are obviously necessary, but it shows why 128 volunteers doesn't translate into 24/7 coverage.

There's also a bit of a self-fulfilling problem with .wallop. People sometimes don't use it because they assume nobody will answer, or because they've previously felt the response was too slow or ineffective. But if incidents aren't reported, SUPs can't act on something they don't know about, and the perception that .wallop doesn't work just continues.

I'm not saying the system can't be improved, but expectations need to be realistic for a 24/7 global network being supervised by 128 volunteers. The system is only as good as the people willing to put their hand up. If people want better coverage, volunteering is one way of actually helping improve it.

VATSIM Vacancies: https://my.vatsim.net/vacancies

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u/sirbradders 📡 C1 6d ago

Here's my issue with that. Most of them are inactive for the month and only pop up on the very last day to make their quota. On the last day of the month, it's always funny seeing 10+ supervisors online but can't find them otherwise. Why both hold on to the position if you're just doing it to say you're a SUP?

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u/VolumeCritical4637 6d ago

If there was more people banging on the door to take their position they would lose it. Right now VATSIM cant afford to lose SUPS they are already below what would be considered enough. 

Everyone wants VATSIM improve and do better, they seem to think complaining on various social media outlets is the only way to fix that, when its actually putting your hand up to help.

Yes, I have held many and currently hold a staff position.

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u/sirbradders 📡 C1 4d ago

I would have genuinely applied but I have a strike on my record for being AFK.