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Messages - Paul Marcus

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1
Virtual Airlines / Empora Air says goodbye to Paul Marcus
« on: June 15, 2010, 06:57:51 PM »
Paul Marcus steps down Early

After over two years of serving as CEO of Empora, Paul Marcus retires from the office. Marcus founded the airline in 2007 and turned a small charter airline into a global force in luxury aviation. He decided to retire due to personal life causing less time to run the airline he created. Marcus created the first and currently the only virtual airline that operated in an all business and first class configuration. He put luxury and client comfort number one and would not settle for anything less. Aside from the virtual aspect, which in the end how your cabins are laid out and what services are in your virtual terminals do not matter when it comes to what you provide for your pilots. Paul created something that hundreds of pilots over the past few years have enjoyed. He put in time every day of the year into Empora. Paul himself rarely flew after Empora opened, as he was always working on planning new things for Empora’s members.

The past three years without a doubt have not been perfect for Empora. After three hackings, fraud, our site coding stolen and being sold by scammers, and other unfortunate events, Paul never gave up on Empora. While his personal relationship with the community was infamous, he deeply cared about the community. When Empora’s first COO was injured in a car accident and couldn’t return to serve his position, the community came to Paul offering their support and help. While some saw Marcus’s stand out advertising of Empora as showy and cocky, it made Empora stand out and when pilots wanted something different they came to Empora. Anyone who joined the organization knew that Paul would do his best to personally speak to each pilot and do whatever it took to make sure they were fully happy at Empora. Paul was a member of over 30 flight simulator forums; despite his aggressiveness with some members over how some virtual airlines should fix their operations to survive in a large community, he did approach many members and advise them on how to manage and structure their airlines. Since he first entered the community he has served as staff at six virtual airlines with the exception of Empora. He has also been a part of developing other virtual airlines such as Snapjet, Cirrus, Connect Caribbean, ExecAir, among others.

We wish Paul the best with his future!

A letter to the community from Paul Marcus:

“Dear Flight Simmers,

Over the many years I have been in the community I have always felt welcome here. Virtual Airlines are something I always have found to be a great hobby and a lot of fun to participate in. I have met some wonderful people and made good friends, whether it is on the many forums or at a virtual airline. I am well aware that my presence was never without controversy however I am proud of the virtual airline I have built and what makes me satisfied with what I have done is seeing hundreds of people from around the world that I do not even know and will never meet, joining my creation. That is something very special and I am honored that Empora has become a great success. A few weeks ago I got an email from Mark McCoy, the founder of Metro Virtual. He and I spoke through a series of emails about the state of Empora and my future in the community. I have to say while discussing leaving the community with my colleagues, I got nothing but support from them. While no one wanted to see me leave I knew it was my time to go. I have some major priorities to tend to in my personal life, with college, work and family. The most important thing I can leave Empora doing is apologizing for my rough style when it came to my competitors. While I am not longer the Chief Executive Officer of Empora, and as of August I will step down from the Presidency of the organization, I offer my best wishes and support to the other virtual airlines, the ones that operate today and the ones that will operate tomorrow. If you have an idea, share it, you try and if it doesn’t work, you can say you tried and you can say that it was all worth it. Empora is by far not a perfect virtual airline, but I had an original idea that was never tried before in the community, so I invested some money, networked with my peers and I created something, and I am proud to say it has been the home to hundreds of pilots since 2007. I remember be trampled by forum members in 2007, and I prevailed over that and stuck with my vision. I thank you all for what you have done for me over these few years and please contact Empora at any time where they will provide you with my contact information.”


Empora is searching for the best possible person to take the office of Chief Executive Officer. If you are interested and feel you have the ability to handle this LONG TERM position please contact: info@emporavirtual.com

Below are the requirements for this title:
-Held Virtual Airline staff job(s) in the past
-Able to communicate with staff, update, develop and monitor the VA as their top priority
-Cannot hold any VA staff job at another VA while being CEO of Empora
-Does not have real world ownership of Empora
-Ability to work with Board of Directors and parent company
-Pure motivation and respect for Empora and what it stands for



Visit us at
http://emporavirtual.com/

2
Virtual Airlines / Empora Air in need of CEO
« on: June 12, 2010, 04:56:02 PM »
[img]http://emporavirtual.com/newsite/images/icons/logo.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

Empora Air executives have announced the need to add to their staff team. Empora  seeks qualified candidates for the following positions:
Please contact ceo@emporavirtual.com with your application

Human Resources/Staff Director:
Candidates should have the following qualifications:
-Have a sense of authority and responsibility; able to take control of a situation
-Manage a easy to use Pilot Center System (Add/Delete, monitor and supervise pilots)
-Supervisor of ALL pilots
-Have the ability to work in a team environment
-Reports to Chief Operating and Executive Officer
-Please contact ceo@emporavirtual.com with your application

Vice President of Marketing and Communications (“The Graphics Guy")
Candidates should have the following qualifications:
-Able to create graphics and use PhotoShop or other graphic editing programs
-Have creative writing abilities
-Able to effectively communicate with the public through press releases
-Reports to Empora Chief Operating Officer
-Please contact ceo@emporavirtual.com with your application

Chief Executive Officer****
CEO and founder Paul Marcus announced that he would be retiring in August. Marcus founded the airline in 2007, and it has grown from a small carrier based out of Kennedy International into the world's largest luxury virtual airline under Mr. Marcus' leadership.Empora will look for a replacement for Mr. Marcus both internally within the company, and externally in the Virtual Airline community. The person who takes the role is not required to financially contribute to Empora, just take on the highest staff role.
-Held Virtual Airline staff jobs in the past
-Has references from VA's managers
-Able to communicate with staff, update, develop and monitor the VA as their top priority
-Cannot hold any VA staff job at another VA while being CEO of Empora
-Does not have real world ownership of Empora
-Ability to work with Board of Directors and parent company
-Pure motivation and respect for Empora and what it stands for

Please contact ceo@emporavirtual.com with your application

[size=]Visit us at http://www.emporavirtual.com/[/size]

3
Virtual Airlines / Empora and FlyUK TEAM UP!
« on: February 13, 2010, 05:13:19 PM »
[img]http://www.flyuk.aero/~flyuk_staff/PR-Images/UKV-PR-Header-Logo.gif\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]
__________________________________________

Empora Air Codeshare
________________________________________________
[img]http://www.flyuk.aero/~flyuk_staff/PR-Images/codeshare_ukv_emp.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

Empora and Fly UK team up!

After two weeks of continuous negotiations, Empora and Fly UK have agreed to enter in a partnership involving a codeshare aimed at expanding the routes of the two airlines.

Paul Marcus, CEO at Empora Air and Robert Allen, Head of Operations at Fly UK believe this new codeshare agreement will benefit both airlines. The codeshare was formed with the aim of enabling pilots to have something different to fly from the day to day routes and aircraft of their respective airline.

Fly UK will be providing Empora with services to resort/holiday destinations in Europe. Paul Marcus had this to say, “The way Europeans travel is very different compared with Americans. Americans like to have the very best they can. They like things big. They go all out. Fly UK does not provide an all business class service like we do, but we know that domestic/inter Euro travel is different on the other side of the pond. When a loyal Empora customer would like to go skiing in Switzerland we are going to make sure he or she gets there in the most luxurious way possible. We trust the people of Fly UK to take care of our customers.” There will be ten flights including return flights the airline will operate for Empora.

Empora will open up Fly UK’s network to the best of America including destinations such as San Francisco and Miami. Fly UK will now have access to flights to some of the largest US cities. These flights will all be served on the Airbus 320 & Boeing 777. They were chosen because of both the destination appeal and the time they departed in correspondence with Fly UK flights arriving in JFK from the UK. Chris Sutcliffe, Fly UK CEO said “We at Fly UK are very pleased and excited about what the future holds with this new codeshare. It is particularly beneficial for our pilots because they will now have access to destinations from flights originating from the US which they never had before as well as a new aircraft type, the Boeing 777."

Both airlines will have the codeshare flights added to their systems, as well as a special page created on both websites giving details about the Codeshare and the relevant information and downloads. The codeshare will be run on a one month trial basis. At the end of the trial, Fly UK and Empora staff will meet and discuss if the contract shall be extended or discontinued.

Empora flights available to Fly UK pilots for booking can be found at http://www.flyuk.aero/en/index.php?page=division_mainstream and by clicking on the Codeshare tab.

For more info please visit Empora at emporavirtual.com and/or Fly UK at flyuk.aero.

[img]http://www.flyuk.aero/~flyuk_staff/PR-Images/EMP-UKV.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

Empora’s main hub is New York’s John F Kennedy Airport. Empora offers a variety of routes out of its San Francisco hub as well as focus cities Miami and Denver. Empora operates Airbus 320, Airbus 330-200, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 777-200 Long Range, Boeing 767-200, Embrarer 170, and Dash 8-Q200 aircraft. The airline has a very unique and advanced Pilot Center as well as an ACARS system that Auto-files your flight into the system. Empora is also beta testing a new In-flight Entertainment system (IFE) that will be released soon. Empora has a devoted and friendly staff of experienced real-world and virtual pilots.

Fly UK, established in April 2004, is one of the UK's leading virtual airlines and is based at London Heathrow. Fly UK operate a fleet of 94 aircraft from 8 UK bases to 143 destinations. Mainstream operations consist of scheduled, low cost, ad-hoc and cargo flights.

--- ENDS ---

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Fly UK - Robert Allen - Head of Operations
robert.allen[at]flyuk.aero

Empora Air - Paul Marcus - CEO
ceo[at]emporavirtual.com

4
Virtual Airlines / More Innovations from Empora Air!
« on: December 28, 2009, 05:15:20 PM »
[img]http://i45.tinypic.com/1syyqg.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

For an audio version of this Press Conference: Empora PR.mp3

        December 27, 2009- New York, New York. Empora Air has been quite lately as it has been undergoing rather large changes. CEO Paul Marcus explains; “Well I would be lying if I told you that Empora was at its best. While we are not running into debt or losing large amounts of profit we have hit a plateau period in our operations and realize it is time for an update.” Marcus did have some shocking news and was honest about one project he was once quite proud of; “LuxServ, sadly it did not work out, we were stretched too thin. It was not the activity or the profit of the routes but the inability to find a proper staff for it. Due to us being here in New York and the LuxServ team having to be in Milan and London, it was too hard on everybody.”

   Empora will be sending the five A320s aircraft to New York, where they will be repainted and retrofitted to the classic Empora business class seating. The New York based airline which announced that it would be using the former fleet of SnapJet Airways has decided to expand its domestic operations intensely but with caution. Zach Hutcherson, the CPO of Empora had this to say about these sixteen aircraft future, “Empora will continue being the only commercial luxury product in the business, but we understand that in order to make a profit, we have cut our fares. It will be cheaper to fly with Empora now but still get the same luxury product that millions of people have experienced for the past few years. The way we did this without having to cut luxury is we cut executive pay, in fact Mr. Marcus has a $1 a year salary. We feel that in this economy it is inappropriate to be making as much money as some of our colleagues at other airlines are making. A lot of money is being saved, plus we have also cut some unneeded jobs that were yielding very high salaries.”

[img]http://i50.tinypic.com/2efi82g.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

   Empora does have some news to be happy about! They have received their first four of seven Boeing 777-200LR aircraft formerly owned by Air Asheville. The 777-200LR aircraft are fitted in first class, business class and a small section of “economy plus” seats. The reasoning for adding this “economy plus” cabin was to guarantee filled seats. “We like to call this entry-level Empora, a cheaper way to get a taste of Empora. Also they are witness to our first and business class services which may entice them to splurge next time,” said Paul Marcus. The 777 will start out serving Tokyo, Shanghai, Osaka and London from JFK.


The B777-200 Schedule:
Flight Number   Departure   Departure Time   Arrival   Arrival Time
EMP1082   KJFK New York, USA   11:45   RJAA Tokyo, Japan   15:00
EMP1083   RJAA Tokyo, Japan   17:30   KJFK New York, USA   17:15
EMP1084   KJFK New York, USA   12:55   RJBB Osaka, Japan   16:10
EMP1085   RJBB Osaka, Japan   18:45   KJFK New York, USA   18:30
EMP1086   KJFK New York, USA   01:30   ZSPD Shanghai, China04:15
EMP1087   ZSPD Shanghai, China16:30   KJFK New York, USA   17:30
EMP1088   KJFK New York, USA   08:20   EGKK London, UK   21:20
EMP1089   EGKK London, UK   11:30   KJFK New York, USA   14:15


[img]http://i48.tinypic.com/20rqt1e.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]


   The luxury airline has its eyes on another part of the US. San Francisco is a major international city and is the international gateway for Nor-Cal. Empora quietly made SFO its focus city in the fall of 2009. Empora already had service from SFO-LAX and back. In 2007 the airline had a service from LAX-LAS. Empora has brought back Clayton Locher, a former staff member to develop this operation. Empora already serves JFK, LAX, Eagle Co., Cancún and Tokyo from SFO.

Flight Number   Departure   Departure Time   Arrival   Arrival Time   Aircraft
EMP31   KSFO San Francisco, USA   16:30   KLAX Los Angeles, USA   17:45   A320
EMP72   KSFO San Francisco, USA   22:00   KJFK New York, USA           06:00   A320
EMP901   KSFO San Francisco, USA   08:30   KLAX Los Angeles, USA   09:30   A320
EMP907   KSFO San Francisco, USA   13:30   KLAX Los Angeles, USA   14:30   A320
EMP904   KSFO San Francisco, USA   18:15   KLAX Los Angeles, USA   19:30   A320
EMP906   KSFO San Francisco, USA   22:30   KLAX Los Angeles, USA   23:30   A320
EMP1062   KSFO San Francisco, USA   11:30   KEGE Aspen, USA           14:45   A320
EMP1074   KSFO San Francisco, USA   10:10   MMUN Cancún, Mexico   17:25   A320
EMP1076   KSFO San Francisco, USA   14:00   RJAA Tokyo, Japan           17:30   A330-200
EMP1078   KSFO San Francisco, USA   09:00   KMIA Miami, USA           17:30   B767-200




   In preparation for the New Year, Empora has released a new 2010 schedule that significantly expands its Northeastern Operations. Featured airports in these new routes are: Providence, Rhode Island (KPVD) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (KPHL). Domestic flights will be available from these two locations, and several other airports throughout the Northeast. “We feel that we need to have routes that make Empora the paramount airline in the northeast. While we cannot turn these airports into major focus cities like SFO, we can offer flights that no other airline has and be the alternative to the major players at airports such as Boston Logan,” said Hutcherson. Further expansions will be released throughout 2010 and 2011 for the Southeast, Northwest, Midwest, and Southwest regions. Empora hopes to play a large role again in the nation it started in.

[img]http://i45.tinypic.com/110vul3.gif\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

It does not end there! Empora has released its first version of EmporACARS, its custom made ACARS system created by webmaster and CTO Ian Philips. This version, which has been developed and tested since August of 2009.

These are the current features:
-Automatic booking loading
-Automatic time tracker
-Automatic landing speed recorder (is now sent to the server)
-Automatic PIREP filing
-Speed/Altitude Tracking (logging speed and altitude for your entire flight)

_______________________________________________________________

[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/24y2u4x.png\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

Empora will be releasing its second version of its Inflight Entertainment System- Kneeboard. This system built by Air™ will be complete with movies and TV on demand, as well as radio from around the world, games and even Empora’s own web browser! Air™ is working on a way to create a special version of Skype for Empora’s LuxMedia system.

________________________________________________________________


Empora Airlines is seeking a dedicated and qualified Chief Operations Officer.  Applicants must be 16 years of age, currently live in the United States, have expansive knowledge of the U.S. and aircraft routes within the U.S., and be able to dedicate a minimum of 10 hours per week to the airline.   Interested parties should email a complete resume to zhutcherson@emporavirtual.com.  Please be prepared to perform an interview within three business days.

Empora Airlines is seeking a knowledgeable Events Coordinator.  Applicants must be 16 years of age, live in the United States, and have intimate knowledge of VATSIM and event setup.  Duties are to schedule and advertise Empora events.  Interested parties should email a complete resume to zhutcherson@emporavirtual.com. Please be prepared to perform an interview within three business days.

Empora Virtual Airlines is also seeking a qualified and professional Aircraft Design Engineer and Graphic Artist. Duties Include: Painting all Empora aircraft; designing graphics for website, updating images every so often to keep the site fresh. Interested parties should email a complete resume to zhutcherson@emporavirtual.com. Please be prepared to perform an interview within three business days


[size=]Please visit us at emporavirtual.com[/size]

5
Virtual Airlines / RM Holdings Press Release
« on: November 20, 2009, 03:43:23 PM »
[size=]RM Holdings news[/size]

This Public Relations memo comes from RM Holdings, not Empora Air, LuxServ by Emporaâ„¢, Atlantic International, SwiftJet, Streamline Airways, Luxury Airlines and other RM owned companies.

As of November 19, 2009 SnapJet turned over their documents and possessions to RM Holdings, the group that owns 95% of Empora Air. SnapJet’s 8 A320 and 12 A319 aircraft will be possessed by RM, the future of those aircraft have not been made public. When reached for comment, Paul Marcus, the President of RM Holdings said, “RM is doing something with the aircraft, we are adding 4 rows of business class every aircraft, and Airbus has been notified of the seating change for the aircraft that are still on order. SnapJet was to have 16 of both aircraft; the orders will now be sent directly to the airline that is to posses SnapJet’s fleet.” RM Holdings could possibly add it to one of the airlines that it owns. It has been rumored that one of the airlines may be revived. Marcus stated that the new owner or lesser will break the news themselves. In 2008 SnapJet had given its some of its orders to Empora Air, which helped create its A320 fleet.


RM Holdings is looking to add staff for its largest airlines, Empora Air.

[img]http://i45.tinypic.com/21jrxc4.jpg\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

Empora is searching for valuable staff members.
All positions require the use of MSN Messenger for staff communication, ability to communicate at least 5 days a week, and have about 10 hours of free time to work or meet with staff per week. They will be provided with a @emporavirtual.com email address and all the privileges that come with being staff
.

Vice President of Research and Development: Fourth highest rank in executive staff. Monitors Empora's operations, reports to and advises staff on information and aids VA community, searches for trends, new markets, and VA's, and other information pertinent team on how to manage operations; drafts out plans for staff and board of directors on future development. Please contact Paul Marcus at: ceo@emporavirtual.com

Chief Personnel Officer: Third highest ranking executive job, the chief supervisor of pilots and staff. Monitors the activity of the pilots, as well as the functions of the staff; and is the coordinator of the management team. The “CPO” must be well experienced with Flight Sim and the VA community; they will have to collaborate with the human resources department to aide in creating a center for pilots to get the materials and resources needed to get the best out of what FS has to offer. The CPO is in charge of all PiRep approvals, and will maintain the pilot roster and activity statistics.

Vice Presidents of Marketing and Public Relations: Theses two staff members are in charge of Empora’s image to the world. They will work on press releases, news letters, blogs, guides, and other releases to the public and within the VA. One VP must have Photoshop skills and have the ability to put together PDF documents. These members with work with pilots and staff on advising where the direction of the VA should go and how to market it.

Regional Directors: JFK Hub/US operations, South America and Caribbean, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Asia. These four staff members will advise the staff on routing and statistics for their region. This position has a rather light work load and great for someone with geographical knowledge and able to keep track of statistics for their regions. The directors will help with routing and events for their regions on VATSIM and IVAO. For this position we require those with a great deal of VATSIM and/or IVAO experience and able to coordinate events.

Fleet Painter: Simply someone that can dedicate themselves to painting future Empora aircraft or creating a new scheme in the future.
________________________________________________________________

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