Virgin America
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| Virgin America | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:Virgin America logo.png | ||
| IATA VX | ICAO VRD | Callsign REDWOOD |
| Founded | 2004 | |
| Hubs | San Francisco International Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | eleVAte | |
| Fleet size | 15 | |
| Destinations | 5 | |
| Parent company | VAI Partners LLC Virgin Group | |
| Headquarters | Burlingame, California | |
| Key people | C. David Cush (CEO) Donald J. Carty (Chairman) | |
| Website: http://www.virginamerica.com | ||
Virgin America is a U.S. based low-cost airline that began service on 8 August 2007. The airline's stated aim is to provide low-fare, high-quality service for "long-haul point-to-point service between major metropolitan cities on the Eastern and West Coast seaboards". [1] San Francisco International Airport is Virgin America's principal base of operations. Virgin America's frequent flyer program is known as eleVAte and, while not officially launched, it is expected to run on a dollars spent vs. miles accrued model[2].
Virgin America, though the brainchild of British entrepreneur Richard Branson, is a U.S. airline. By law, no more than 25% of a US airline may be owned by foreign interests and must be under the "actual control" of U.S. citizens;[3] VAI Partners LLC owns 75% of the capital stock and is responsible for appointing two-thirds of the voting members of the board of directors. The remaining 25% of the company is owned by Virgin Group,[4] which also licenses the Virgin brand to the airline. Virgin America is separate from Virgin Atlantic and as such is under no obligation to work with Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue, Virgin Nigeria, Virgin Galactic or any other companies that share the Virgin brand name.
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[edit] History
In early 2004, Virgin Group announced its intent to start a new, U.S.-based low-fare airline it was calling "Virgin USA." After considering Boston, Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco as headquarters for the new airline, it announced on June 4 2004, that its flight operations center would be located at San Francisco International Airport and its corporate headquarters would be located in New York City.[5] At the time, Virgin USA expected to be flying by mid-2005. On June 16 2004, the airline was officially named "Virgin America." It also announced its U.S. management team and that its fleet would consist of Airbus planes.[6] Although plans seemed to be moving along well, the new airline had trouble finding U.S. investors willing to gamble on a new airline, given the state of the U.S. airline industry. Virgin America announced in April 2005 that it was delaying its first flights until 2006 at the earliest.[7]
On December 8, 2005, Virgin America announced that it had secured $177.3 million in funding and submitted the required U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) certificate application. The company also announced that its headquarters would be moved from New York City to Burlingame, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area and that regulatory approval would take from six to 12 months.[8] However, the application was denied by the Department of Transportation on December 27 2006.[9]
Virgin then proposed that the airline be restructured, with the voting shares held by a trust approved by the DOT, and with only two Virgin Group directors on the eight-person board. In addition to removing the Virgin Group's veto and consent rights, Virgin America said that it would consider removing Richard Branson from the board, and possibly even dropping the "Virgin" brand entirely.[10] The company was also prepared to remove CEO Fred Reid "should the DOT find that necessary."[11]
On March 20 2007, The U.S. DOT tentatively cleared Virgin America to fly. However in order to get full permission Virgin America must still change its business structure by enacting several reforms specified by the DOT, these include replacing Fred Reid as CEO and limiting the influence of Virgin Group over Virgin America's operations.[12] Later, Virgin America attempted to get the DOT to reverse its demand that Fred Reid be fired, but was ready to implement the rest of the changes.[13] A speech given by Branson at the end of the airline's inaugural flight, however, revealed that Reid was legally unable to retain his position as CEO of Virgin America.[14]
On May 18 2007, The U.S. DOT granted final approval for Virgin America to begin operations. The airline conformed with all conditions specified from the tentative approval on March 20 2007. However, CEO Fred Reid will only be allowed to retain his position until six months after the airline certification. The airline planned a mid-summer launch that occurred in August 2007. [15]. Fred Reid was allowed to stay an extra three months as a consultant (in addition to six months as CEO) but the airline has asked that he be allowed to remain as CEO during the entire nine month period. [16] On December 10, 2007, C. David Cush replaced Fred Reid as CEO.[17]
On July 11 2007, The U.S. DOT granted approval for Virgin America to sell tickets in advance of their launch. The airline began selling tickets on July 19 2007.
The airline made its inaugural SFO/JFK flight on August 8, 2007, as well as its SFO/LAX flight. Its inaugural LAX/JFK flight was on August 29, 2007.
[edit] Support and opposition
During the approval process, there were many supporters of both sides of the debate. City and state representatives led the support for the airline. Arguments by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger [18] and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom [19] included opinions that Virgin America would create jobs and have other economic benefits for the San Francisco Bay Area.
The biggest opposition came from the Air Line Pilots Association (a national aviation labor union) and U.S. "legacy" airlines (led by Houston-based Continental Airlines). The review of Virgin America's DOT certificate application was prolonged because of this opposition. The opponents' strategy was to try to block or delay approval by claiming that Virgin America will not be under U.S. ownership or control. By filing motions that Virgin America's responses to inquiry were not sufficient to prove that the airline is a "U.S. citizen", the application opponents urged the DOT to require Virgin America to produce additional documentation.[20]
[edit] Destinations
Virgin America plans on flying to major destinations throughout the United States and currently predicts that it will have approximately ten destinations within the first year of service and up to thirty after five years of service.[21]
At its San Francisco hub, Virgin America competes with United Airlines—a legacy carrier that provides substantial services from San Francisco—and with Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways—low-cost carriers that serve all three San Francisco Bay Area airports.
Virgin America utilizes the newest terminal at San Francisco International Airport -- the "International Terminal" -- and is one of the only airlines that operates domestic services from the terminal. Fresh flowers are located on each check-in desk and passengers can choose to use self-service check-in kiosks or agent-assisted desks.[22]
Virgin America currently flies to 5 destinations throughout the United States. Upcoming schedule changes will increase its destination count to 7 when the airline adds San Diego, California on February 12, 2008 and Seattle, Washington on March 18, 2008.
[edit] Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
[edit] California
- Los Angeles (Los Angeles International Airport)[23]
- San Diego (San Diego International Airport) service begins February 12, 2008[23]
- San Francisco (San Francisco International Airport) Hub[23]
[edit] Nevada
[edit] New York
[edit] Virginia
[edit] Washington
- Seattle (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) Service begins March 18, 2008[23]
[edit] Fleet
Virgin America's fleet will consist of 34 Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 aircraft (19 purchased, 15 leased) that will bear the Virgin logo.[5] Virgin America received their first Airbus A320 on February 24 2006.
Virgin America is also soliciting the public's help to name their aircraft.[24] On October 11, 2006, the first aircraft was christened Jefferson Airplane after the San Francisco band. Former lead singer Grace Slick christened the plane along with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The two inaugural flights on August 8, 2007, were on A320s named Air Colbert, named after comedian Stephen Colbert, and California Dreaming. Other upcoming names include Mach Daddy, Virgin & Tonic, An Airplane Named Desire, Jane (as in Plane Jane) and Unicorn Chaser. [25]
In late February 2007, the airline announced that it would lease some of its fleet to other carriers on a short-term basis.[26]
The Virgin America fleet consists of the following aircraft as of November 2007:[27]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (First/Economy) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319 | 3 (5 orders) | 118 (8/110) | 2 leased to Skybus Airlines |
| Airbus A320 | 12 (4 orders) | 149 (8/141) |
[edit] Cabin
Virgin America offers dual-class service on all flights it operates. The cabins both feature mood lighting, an unusual aspect of domestic airlines, said to create a more pleasant and relaxing environment for the passengers and crew.[28] All seats are equipped with Panasonic Avionics' personal in-flight entertainment (IFE) system running a customized touch-screen environment called Red.
First class seats offer 55 inches of pitch and are 28 inches wide. The seats feature power-ports, adjustable headrests, a massage function, and various recline controls. Passengers seated in first class receive complimentary meals, refreshments, and alcoholic beverages. In first class, Red offers free live satellite television, free movies and a selection of games.
Main Cabin seats offer 32 inches of pitch and are 19.7 inches wide with power-ports and adjustable headrests. In the main cabin, Red offers free live satellite television, pay-per-view movies, a small selection of free games and a larger selection of games for purchase. Red can be used for the purchase of snacks, meals and alcoholic beverages. Flight attendants receive the orders via a tablet PC on the food cart thereby eliminating the traditional food and beverage service.
[edit] References
- ^ "On the Record: Fred Reid," The San Francisco Chronicle, March 19 2006.
- ^ What is eleVAte?. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ See "Actual Control of U.S. Air Carriers" (Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking), 71 FR 26425, May 5 2006.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b "SFO Lands New Carrier Virgin USA — 1,500 Jobs; Airline Sets Sights On Low-fare Market; Corporate Center To Be Based In N.Y.," The San Francisco Chronicle, June 5 2004.
- ^ "Virgin To Buy Airbus Airplanes; Branson Names Carrier; Executive Lineup Announced," The San Francisco Chronicle, June 16 2004.
- ^ "Start Of Virgin America Delayed; Branson's Airline Apparently Needs More Investors," The San Francisco Chronicle, April 9 2005.
- ^ "Taking To The Air: Low-fare Startup Virgin America Says It Has The Funding To fly," The San Francisco Chronicle, December 9 2005.
- ^ "Virgin America gets the no-go," The San Francisco Chronicle, December 28 2006.
- ^ "Virgin Group makes concessions to get Virgin America flying," Air Transport World, January 19, 2007.
- ^ Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 22, 2007, p. 16.
- ^ United States Department of Transportation ruling
- ^ "Virgin America fights to keep CEO Reid," Air Transport World, April 12 2007.
- ^ "Virgin America's inaugural flight", engadget.com, 2007-08-08. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
- ^ "Virgin America given green light," Unregistered News, May 20 2007.
- ^ World Breaks, Aviation Week and Space Technology, September 17, 2007, p. 24
- ^ "Virgin America Appoints C. David Cush as Chief Executive Officer", Yahoo, 2007-11-26. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
- ^ Letter from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to Deputy U.S. Secretary of Transportation, April 20 2006.
- ^ Statement of approval from Mayor Newsom, March 20 2007.
- ^ See "Virgin America Inc. - Certificate - Interstate Scheduled Air Transportation", U.S. DOT Docket OST-2005-23307.
- ^ Virgin America FAQs Accessed November 2, 2007.
- ^ Grossman, David. "Virgin America: A new airline with a great product and a few bugs", USA Today, 2007-11-12. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g Virgin America Route Map. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
- ^ See www.nameourplanes.com
- ^ Virgin America Names Their Airplanes (Name Wire: August 09, 2007)
- ^ Virgin America Leasing Planes to Others (Reuters: February 23, 2007)
- ^ FAA.gov Virgin America Certification and Fleet Information
- ^ Grossman, David. "Virgin America: A New Airline With a Great Product and a Few Bugs", USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
[edit] External links
- Virgin America Official website
- V-Flyer Customer created community site
- Virgin America Flight Review
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