What's New?

What's new in version 3?

New Features

• A main help page is available to centralise links to various useful pages (such as the FAQs and contact form) that people may find useful if they are having difficulty with the site.
• There is a central jobs page, from which it is possible to access all the other jobs lists and the jobs search page.
• It is now possible for Flightdeck Club members, in addition to uploading, to also view/download and delete their CV/résumé from the site.
• There is now a convenient and simple way to drag a shortcut (unique to your account) onto your desktop, that when clicked will bypass the normal login process. For security reasons, creating such a shortcut is not recommended for use on a computer that may be used by others, and if you think your shortcut may have been compromised by another person it may easily be invalidated and a new shortcut created.
• There are comprehensive frequently asked questions (FAQs), tuned to the expected requirements of crewmembers or recruiters, depending upon who is logged in the time.
• We now maintain a testimonials page listing some brief comments from some of our users. As well as comments about how we can improve, we are also delighted to hear that things have gone well for you, and we would hope for useful feedback from you anytime you feel you would like to comment. It is only by knowing our users that we will be able to continue to improve our service, and we thank you for those comments.
• There is now a new choice for users who wish to unsubscribe from our service, whether to delete their details permanently from our server, or to simply unsubscribe from our services whilst leaving their details on our server, perhaps for a future job search. Whilst unsubscribed, users will not receive automated e-mails such as job alerts from our site, and recruiters will be unable to access their details (unless they had already accessed them before the unsubscription took effect).
• There is now a proper shopping trolley/basket, which will remember its contents for up to one month for any logged in user. If the current user is not logged in, the basket contents will be forgotten at the end of the browser session. If a non logged in user adds contents to their basket, then registers and/or logs in, the basket contents will be attached to their account.
• It is now possible to check the desired user name is available before applying for an account.
• A special payments page is now available upon which, for unusual requests requiring a payment to us, the amount notified to the payment processor (WorldPay) is entered by the user, and is not automatically calculated by our web site.

User Interface Improvements

• The lists of jobs available for crew application through the site has been split into further sub-sections to include cockpit positions (specifically for flightdeck crew vacancies), non-cockpit positions (for all other vacancies), latest jobs (the most recent vacancies posted onto our site), featured jobs (vacancies that recruiters specifically want to draw attention to), paid postings (vacancies for which recruiters have pre-paid for the ability of all our registered crew including Flightdeck Club non-members to apply), and recently closed jobs (useful to check if you cannot find the job you are looking for).
• The crew search engine has been re-written to include searching by country of residence, category of licence, minimum and maximum hours of experience (both total and on type), and aircraft type.
• Crew and recruiter home pages now contain details of any individual problems with the account, such as the fact that we may be unsure of (one of) the account holders e-mail address(es), or a suggestion that the account could be upgraded for access to other value-added services.
• The display of job details has been improved, and is broadly consistent with the display of crew and recruiter details.
• There is a new crew profile page which leads to a number of different forms where relevant information can be added to the information we hold, making it much easier for non-flightdeck crew to register, as much of the information relevant to flightdeck crew is not relevant to them. Similarly, it is hoped that to make the best use of our service and to obtain the best match of job alerts and other information from us, flightdeck crew will wish to provide this further information and keep it up to date, e.g. their current employer (particularly if they wish us not to alert the employer to their use of our service), their overall hours experience, any individual aircraft type ratings, and passports held. We feel that splitting the data collection function of the site into these discrete areas will improve the overall user experience of the site.
• We now permit users to choose whether to view the site in a normal style or text-only. This could be useful if the device you are using to view the site does not support a larger screen resolution or incorrectly renders stylesheet-based web pages. The link to change the style of the site is at the bottom of every page.
• Most of the images on the site have been converted to PNG format. As well as being non-proprietary, without the obscure licensing issues of GIF format, we find them to be faster and smoother to render, with little penalty in file size, and are supported by most modern browsers.
• We continue to provide a newsfeed supplied by moreover.com, but it has been moved to its own page and the formatting of the news links has been improved.

Use of the Site

• In the previous version of the site, a maximum of five aircraft type ratings were recordable against an individual crew account. This limitation has now been withdrawn.
• The resources and links page of our site has been re-written such that additions may be made much more speedily, so we welcome suggestions from our users for useful web sites and other resources crew would find useful when job hunting.
• Crew may now add as many passports as are held, one at a time without limit, easier in particular if new passports are obtained after registration.
• Crew may add their employer and if they do so our systems will prevent any of their details appearing to their own employer, both on the site and also in crew searches and e-mail alerts. If their employer is not listed on the site, crew may suggest that we add the employer into our lists. Owing to the large number of employers worldwide, we reserve the right to add the employer or not at our own discretion, but if they are in the aviation sector and of significant size, we normally will add them.
• Users may now make requests for features on the site that they would find useful. One of the main reasons for re-developing our site was to make it possible to go almost anywhere in terms of functionality, but of course writing a web site like this is neither easy nor quick, to say the least. We will consider all suggestions for enhancements and improvements to the site, and attempt to incorporate those we deem most useful and achievable into future upgrades of the site, on an ongoing basis, and we warmly welcome all such suggestions.
• We still retain a Tell Your Friends page, but from this version of the site there are no membership rewards for recommending your friends. However, we hope that you will still wish to do so, as our purpose is to serve the aviation community and we hope you like what we do and how we do it.
• Job searching has been greatly improved on the site, and Flightdeck Club members may search by recruiter name in addition to the other job search criteria.
• The recruiters area previously known as the holding pool has been split into four distinct pages relating to (1) a shortlist of crew that interest the recruiter, (2) a list of crew who have made speculative applications to the recruiter, (3) a list of crew who have made applications to the recruiter for specifically posted job vacancies, and (4) a list of crew whose contact and CV/résumé details have been accessed by the recruiter.
• It remains possible for a recruiter to request the availability of the crew in their shortlist. This is similar to a feature in the previous version of the site, but is easier to understand and to operate.
• Recruiter shortlist and account status, listing the crew credits purchased, used and remaining, is available on the recruiter home page and other relevant pages in the site, and is easier to understand and use.
• Recruiters may now upgrade their own job postings without additional intervention from our office staff. The possibilities are to upgrade the job to a Paid Posting, whereby the vacancy may be applied to anybody even if they are not a Flightdeck Club member, or to a Featured Job, which includes paid posting status but also includes preferential placing of the vacancy in the jobs lists on the site. Recruiters should please note that in this version of the site, updating a job has no effect on its position in the listings. Featured Job upgrades may be purchased at Standard, Higher, and Premium level, for up to three months per posting, and further information about the advantages to recruiters of such postings may be found on the site.
• The process for applying to recruiters who accept speculative applications has been brought more into line with applications for specific posted jobs. Flightdeck Club members may apply to any recruiter who accepts speculative applications at no further charge.
• The process for applying for non-cockpit jobs has been brought into line with applications for cockpit jobs. In the past we did not log such non-cockpit job applications, but now we do so, and in future we may put more work into this area of the site if we deem it to be worthwhile and useful to our users. For the moment at least, crew applications for non-cockpit jobs remain free of charge, and users do not need to be Flightdeck Club members to apply. This position may be reviewed in the future.

Pricing and Payments

• We are proud that prices have been unchanged on our site from 2001. However, we feel that in view of the large amount of work that has gone into the new version, and the enhanced functionality for Flightdeck Club members and recruiters in particular, a modest price increase is now justified, so you will find the prices slightly higher than before.
• We now accept recurring subscription agreements. This is to enable those who would prefer to remain as full Flightdeck Club members to do so, without the trouble of needing to make further online card transactions. Such recurring subscription agreements may be freely cancelled at any time. We offer recurring subscriptions at a slightly cheaper rate than single subscriptions.
• Our terms and conditions have been revised. Broadly speaking, our service is provided on a best-efforts basis, and if we fail to live up to your expectations at any time please do let us know so that we can do better in future. We cannot guarantee that by use of our service you will find a job or find crew to fill your vacancies, but we are sure that the information we provide is timely, well-qualified, and relevant, and we wish all our users the best of luck in finding what they want.
• We now offer the site itself in three currencies, namely UK Pounds, Euros, and US Dollars. The user is free to change the choice of currency at any time, and the site will remember the choice against the account being used. The link to change the currency of the site is at the bottom of every page. Please be aware that currency changes empty the user's basket. The currency of payment may also be changed in the payment processor's web site (WorldPay). The initial choice of currency for the site, if the user is not logged in or has not yet expressed a choice by updating their details, is estimated by matching the user's IP address against a database of more than 85,000 IP address ranges and the countries they have been allocated to. Some users in the UK may unexpectedly find that Euros have been chosen, and this is because their IP address was allocated to the European Union. Prices on the site are quoted separately in the three currencies, and may be changed from time to time in line with the market and global currency movements.

Stability and Security

• A four-digit check number has been added to various forms throughout the site, if the user is not logged in. This is a technique called flood control, and is used to ensure that our website is not attacked by automated programs such as web robots attempting to upload spam, in the form of irrelevant or malicious data, to our web site.
• Tough security has been implemented at the very first line of every page to prevent database attacks by so-called botnets, networks of computers whose purpose is to infect databases with spam code such as links to other web sites.
• Tightened security has been implemented on individual pages within the site, such that crew and recruiters cannot accidentally view each other's specific areas of the site.
• The naming system for CVs/résumés stored on our servers has been improved to increase your security, and to improve upload reliability.

Technical Issues

• All e-mail from our site is now text-only. We do that because there are so many ways nowadays that people read their e-mail, and we cannot guarantee how it will display, or even that it will display at all, on any particular platform. We took the decision that many companies significantly larger than us have taken, to ensure that our mails get to you in a readable format we will use text only. The mails may not be quite so pretty but we all have fewer problems.
• A completely new administrative interface has been built behind the web site. This enables us to do far more accurate searching for crew, recruiters, and job vacancies, and therefore our job alert e-mails are likely to be generally better targeted, improving our services to both crew and recruiters alike.
• The site's maintenance of the user's login status has been improved, and it should be easier for crew to log in to their account without difficulty. In the event that a user forgets or loses their password, it is possible to request a reminder by e-mail, which now will be sent to both registered e-mail addresses (if two have been supplied). This now also applies to recruiters as well as crew.
• There is now a specific page for bug reporting, which we hope will never be used.
• There is a cookie tester to enable you to test whether or not your browser currently accepts session cookies. Session cookies are required for proper use of our web site, for example to enable the individual user to remain logged in. We do not use cookies for tracking purposes.
• Browsers reporting any of the following strings in their "user agent" data should be able to log on and use our site. MSIE 6, MSIE 7, Firefox, Chrome, Netscape, Opera, Safari, MSIE, AOL, America Online Browser, Navigator, AmigaVoyager, Avant Browser, Beonex, BonEcho, Camino, Cheshire, Chimera, Crazy Browser, Dillo, Elinks, Enigma Browser, Epiphany, Firebird, Flock, Galeon, GranParadiso, IBrowse, iCab, Iceape, Iceweasel, Internet Explorer, K-Meleon, K-Ninja, Kapiko, Kazehakase, Konqueror, Links, Lobo, Lynx, Maxthon, Minefield, Mozilla, MultiZilla, MyIE2, NCSA_Mosaic, NetNewsWire, OmniWeb, Oregano, Phoenix, SeaMonkey, Shiira, Sunrise, w3m. All other user agents are considered as robots, and are excluded from certain parts of the site.