Dear Members,
We have taken some time to discuss the future of Cross The Pond and are happy to say that we will be hosting the next edition in Spring 2026. More details on this, including the exact date, will be shared in the upcoming days.
Over the last several years, the event has evolved drastically from what everyone was used to before. This included the geography of the event, the complexity of the organisation behind the scenes, the traffic numbers, and more. Some might even say it was a revolution, rather than evolution. This change meant that all of the pieces of the CTP machinery needed to be moving at the same pace and rhythm; however, it became apparent that this was not the case.
We have taken these past months to sit back, and the Planning Team has been in contact with local representatives and the Board of Governors to come up with a synchronisation mechanism for all the cogs in the CTP machinery.
What does this mean for you?
- As a local staff member - you will see more engagement through local representatives - something that the wider Planning Team is physically not able to do, speak to every local team personally. This may be direct with questions, or indirect and quieter with thoughts that you may have already raised prior.
- As a member who controls/flies during the event - you will not see a changelog of visible or invisible changes in the planning process or the running of the event on CTP day. We will disseminate information as we need and when you need to know it. That will be via the usual mediums that you get and receive information from.
We do, however, have two changes to announce today. The first being, CTP will be transitioning under the VATSIM.net umbrella of major network events. Up to now, the event has run independently for most aspects of operations, apart from various topics which were either covered by or closely coordinated with the central network management. The current team behind the event will not be changing, but will be working more closely with VP Marketing and local representatives.
That second change is that Cross the Pond will resume operations as an annual event every Spring. Cross The Land will also be making a similar change - for more information, please visit their Discord server. This is integrating CTP & CTL into an annual calendar of rotations between big events benefitting controllers by preventing too much burnout and pilots with varied flying experiences throughout the year.
Expect the date for Cross The Pond - Spring 2026 very, very, very soon!