VA Nexus Hub Manager Module

The VA Nexus Hub Manager Module is a comprehensive hub operations, leadership, pilot engagement, and administrative management system designed specifically for virtual airlines operating on the VA Nexus platform. It gives airline administrators, Hub Managers, Assistant Hub Managers, and authorized hub staff the tools needed to manage every major function within their assigned hub while maintaining clear separation between airline-wide administration and hub-level authority.

The module is built directly on top of the existing VA Nexus system and uses the platform’s current hubs, pilots, aircraft, routes, airports, PIREPs, ranks, awards, flight sessions, and operational data. It does not create unnecessary duplicate records. Instead, it adds powerful management workflows, permissions, reporting tools, staffing controls, communications, analytics, and hub-specific operational features around the existing VA Nexus data.

Hub Administration

System administrators have full access to every hub through a dedicated Hub Manager administration area. Administrators can view all hubs, review current leadership, monitor pilot and aircraft totals, open individual hub management areas, and assign a primary Hub Manager.

The Hub Manager assignment system supports:

• Primary Hub Managers
• Co-Hub Managers
• Assistant Hub Managers
• Department leaders
• Hub staff
• Read-only staff
• Temporary appointments
• Appointment start and end dates
• Appointment history
• Individual permission overrides

Administrators can assign, replace, deactivate, or update Hub Managers without changing the user’s main VA Nexus account role.

Hub-Scoped Permissions

The module includes a granular hub-level permission system. Access can be granted by position, assignment, or individual user.

Permissions can control access to:

• Pilot management
• Personnel notes
• Activity cases
• Hub transfers
• Departments
• Staff positions
• Events
• Tasks
• Goals
• Documents
• Notices
• Reports
• Route requests
• Aircraft requests
• Awards
• Analytics
• Live operations
• Incident management
• Record deletion
• Recycle Bin restoration
• Permanent record deletion

This allows each hub to create a management team without giving every staff member full administrative control.

Pilot-Facing Hub Center

Every hub has a professional front-facing Hub Center that can be viewed by pilots. The page serves as the main public and pilot-facing destination for the hub.

The Hub Center includes:

• Hub name and airport
• Hub banner and branding
• Hub description
• Mission statement
• Hub Manager message
• Leadership team
• Pilot statistics
• Flight statistics
• Hub goals
• Upcoming events
• Featured routes
• Seasonal routes
• Assigned aircraft
• Pilot leaderboards
• Awards and recognition
• Hub documents
• Staff openings
• Hub announcements
• Operations Support reporting

The page uses a polished tabbed design with sections for:

• Overview
• Events
• Routes
• Fleet
• Leaderboard
• Resources
• Operations Support

Authorized administrators and hub staff see a Hub Management button that opens the private management area. Regular pilots do not see this button and cannot access management functions.

Hub Command Center

The private Hub Management area functions as the operational command center for the hub.

Managers can view:

• Total assigned pilots
• Active pilots
• Inactive pilots
• Pilots on leave
• Flights completed
• Flight hours
• Assigned aircraft
• Upcoming events
• Open tasks
• Pending requests
• Current goals
• Operational alerts
• Recent incidents
• Hub Health score

The dashboard provides managers with a central location to understand the current condition of their hub and quickly access areas requiring attention.

Pilot Roster and Activity Management

Hub Managers have access to a searchable and filterable pilot roster.

Pilot information can include:

• Name
• Callsign
• Rank
• Hub assignment
• Join date
• Last flight
• Total flights
• Monthly flights
• Flight hours
• Current airport
• Activity status
• Leave status
• Staff position
• Awards
• Recent performance

Managers can review pilot activity, contact pilots, add notes, recommend awards, initiate transfers, grant leave, or open an activity case.

The module can automatically identify pilots who may require attention based on configurable inactivity rules.

Activity cases can track:

• Inactivity warnings
• Contact attempts
• Manager notes
• Exemptions
• Leave status
• Recommended action
• Resolution
• Case history

Personnel Notes

Authorized managers can create internal personnel notes connected to a pilot.

Notes can be limited by visibility, including:

• Private to the author
• Hub management
• Specific department
• Headquarters
• Hub management and headquarters
• Pilot-visible commendations

Sensitive notes are protected by permissions and included in the audit system.

Departments and Staff Positions

Each hub can create its own organizational structure.

Managers can create departments such as:

• Hub Operations
• Events
• Fleet
• Routes
• Training
• Recruitment
• Pilot Services
• Communications
• Safety

Each department can include:

• Department name
• Description
• Department head
• Assistant head
• Status
• Visibility
• Responsibilities
• Display order

Managers can also create staff positions with:

• Position title
• Department
• Duties
• Requirements
• Minimum rank
• Minimum flight hours
• Available openings
• Application dates
• Approval requirements
• Assigned permissions

Pilots can apply for open staff positions directly through the Hub Center. Managers can review, approve, decline, or request more information.

Hub Transfer Management

The module includes a structured pilot transfer workflow.

Transfer requests can move through:

• Draft
• Submitted
• Current hub review
• Receiving hub review
• Headquarters review
• Approved
• Scheduled
• Completed
• Declined
• Withdrawn
• Cancelled

The process preserves the full transfer history and ensures that both the current hub and receiving hub can participate in the decision.

When an approved transfer is completed, the pilot’s official hub assignment in VA Nexus is updated.

Leave Management

Pilots can submit leave requests through the Hub Center.

Managers can:

• Review the request
• Approve or decline leave
• Set start and end dates
• Add internal notes
• Track leave expiration
• Record return from leave
• Apply activity exemptions

Leave records remain part of the pilot’s hub history.

Route Management

The module reads the existing VA Nexus flight schedule and automatically identifies routes connected to the hub.

Managers can view:

• Departing routes
• Arriving routes
• Route distance
• Flight number
• Aircraft assignments
• Route activity
• Last flown date
• Monthly usage
• Featured routes
• Seasonal routes
• Operational notes

Managers can submit route requests for:

• New routes
• Schedule changes
• Aircraft changes
• Seasonal operations
• Route suspension
• Route retirement

The official VA Nexus flight schedule remains the source of truth.

Fleet Management

The module displays aircraft officially assigned to the hub through the existing VA Nexus aircraft records.

Managers can view:

• Registration
• Aircraft type
• Manufacturer
• Current location
• Hub assignment
• Availability
• Last flight
• Operational status
• Reservations
• Manager notes

Managers can submit requests for:

• New aircraft assignments
• Aircraft transfers
• Maintenance review
• Temporary grounding
• Event reservation
• Training reservation
• Return to service

Aircraft records remain controlled by the main VA Nexus fleet system.

Events and Group Flights

Hub Managers can create and manage events, including:

• Group flights
• Fly-ins
• VATSIM events
• Training flights
• Competitions
• Recruitment events
• Hub meetings
• Anniversary events
• Charity events

Events can include:

• Title
• Description
• Route
• Departure and destination
• Aircraft restrictions
• Start and end date
• Time zone
• Registration deadline
• Pilot limit
• Briefing documents
• Voice channel
• Event banner
• Awards or points

Pilots can register, withdraw, receive reminders, and view event details through the Hub Center.

Managers can track:

• Registrations
• Attendance
• No-shows
• Excused absences
• Event completion
• Post-event reports

Tasks and Staff Collaboration

The module includes internal task management for hub leadership and staff.

Tasks can contain:

• Title
• Description
• Assignee
• Department
• Priority
• Status
• Due date
• Checklist
• Comments
• Attachments
• Dependencies

Tasks can be connected to pilots, events, routes, aircraft, goals, reports, or management requests.

Goals and Performance Tracking

Hub Managers can create measurable hub goals.

Goal types can include:

• Flight count
• Flight hours
• Pilot activity
• Recruitment
• Pilot retention
• Event participation
• Route utilization
• On-time performance
• Cargo volume
• Passenger volume
• Training completion
• Custom metrics

Each goal can include:

• Starting value
• Target value
• Current progress
• Due date
• Owner
• Department
• Priority
• Status
• Progress updates

The Hub Center can display goal progress to assigned pilots.

Hub Notices and Communications

Managers can publish targeted notices to:

• All hub pilots
• Hub staff
• New pilots
• Inactive pilots
• Event participants
• Selected users

Notices can include:

• Priority
• Publish date
• Expiration date
• Attachments
• Required acknowledgment
• Email notification
• Internal notification
• Scheduled publishing

Pilots can acknowledge required notices directly from the Hub Center.

Reports to Headquarters

Hub Managers can create and submit operational reports.

Report types can include:

• Weekly operations report
• Monthly hub report
• Quarterly report
• Staffing report
• Event report
• Fleet report
• Route report
• Recruitment report
• Custom report

Reports can include automatic statistics from VA Nexus along with manager-written summaries.

The report workflow supports:

• Draft
• Submitted
• Under review
• Changes requested
• Resubmitted
• Accepted
• Archived

Reports also support comments, revisions, and attachments.

Awards and Recognition

Hub Managers can recognize pilots and staff through nominations and awards.

Recognition can include:

• Pilot of the Month
• Staff Member of the Month
• Event participation
• Hub service
• Flight milestones
• Recruitment achievements
• Route achievements
• Safety recognition
• Custom commendations

Official airline awards can still require headquarters approval.

Hub Documents

Each hub has a document center for:

• Standard operating procedures
• Airport guides
• Route guides
• Training documents
• Event briefings
• Checklists
• Meeting minutes
• Policies
• Forms

Documents can include:

• Category
• Version
• Effective date
• Expiration date
• Visibility
• Required acknowledgment
• Department restrictions
• Download tracking
• Revision history

Live Hub Operations

The module includes a live operations board powered by existing VA Nexus ACARS flight session data.

Managers can monitor:

• Pilots currently flying
• Callsign
• Flight number
• Departure
• Destination
• Aircraft
• Flight phase
• Altitude
• Groundspeed
• Current status
• Last position update

The board can identify:

• Hub pilots currently flying
• Flights departing from the hub
• Flights arriving at the hub
• Stale ACARS sessions
• Operational alerts
• Aircraft assignment concerns

The module does not create a second flight tracking system. It reads directly from existing VA Nexus flight session data.

Incident and Discrepancy Reporting

Pilots can submit operational reports through the Operations Support section of the Hub Center.

Report categories can include:

• Aircraft issue
• Route issue
• Airport or scenery issue
• ACARS problem
• Flight disruption
• Schedule error
• Other operational concern

Managers can:

• Review reports
• Assign incidents
• Change status
• Request more information
• Add internal comments
• Escalate to headquarters
• Record resolution
• Close the incident

Incident statuses can include:

• Open
• Under review
• Assigned
• Waiting for pilot
• Escalated
• Resolved
• Closed

Hub Health Score

The module calculates a Hub Health score using operational and management data.

The score can consider:

• Pilot activity
• Monthly flight activity
• Open tasks
• Upcoming events
• Report completion
• Staffing
• Route usage
• Fleet usage

Managers can use the score to quickly identify areas requiring improvement.

Record Lifecycle Management

Hub Manager includes a complete record lifecycle system.

Authorized managers can:

• Archive records
• Soft delete records
• Restore deleted records
• View deleted records in the Recycle Bin
• Permanently delete records when permitted

Supported records include:

• Departments
• Positions
• Events
• Goals
• Tasks
• Notices
• Reports
• Documents
• Award nominations
• Route requests
• Aircraft requests

The module includes dependency protection. For example:

• Departments cannot be deleted while positions remain assigned.
• Positions cannot be deleted while staff members hold them.
• Events cannot be deleted after registrations or attendance exist.
• Notices with acknowledgment history must be archived.
• Submitted reports cannot be deleted like drafts.
• Approved requests must remain part of the historical record.

Audit Logging

Important actions are recorded in the Hub Manager audit system.

Audit entries can include:

• User
• Hub
• Action
• Record type
• Record ID
• Old values
• New values
• Date and time
• Deletion reason
• Restore history
• Permission changes
• Manager appointments
• Transfer actions
• Record lifecycle actions

Administrators can review activity across all hubs, while Hub Managers are limited to their assigned hub.

Licensing

The Hub Manager Module includes a built-in licensing system modeled after the VA Nexus Pilot Shop module.

The module remains locked until a valid license is activated.

Without an active license:

• Pilot-facing Hub Center routes are blocked.
• Hub Management routes are blocked.
• Administrative management actions are blocked.
• The module redirects administrators to the activation page.

Administrators can activate or recheck the license through the Hub Manager license page.

The licensing system sends the configured product slug and installed module version to the VA Nexus licensing server.

Fresh Installation and Updates

The module can be installed as a fresh module or used to update an earlier Hub Manager installation.

The package includes:

• Complete module files
• All migrations
• All current features
• License protection
• Admin management pages
• Pilot-facing pages
• Hub-scoped permissions
• Upgrade-safe table and column checks

The current module requires VA Nexus v3.3.0 or newer.

Summary

The VA Nexus Hub Manager Module transforms each virtual airline hub into a complete operational unit. It gives administrators centralized control while allowing Hub Managers and authorized staff to manage pilots, leadership, events, routes, aircraft, documents, goals, tasks, communications, reports, live operations, incidents, and hub performance.

At the same time, it provides assigned pilots with a polished Hub Center where they can view their hub, participate in events, access routes and documents, review leaderboards, submit requests, acknowledge notices, apply for positions, and report operational issues.

The module is designed to provide broad operational control at the hub level while preserving airline-wide authority, data integrity, security, historical records, and licensing protection.