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Virgin America
File:Virgin America logo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
VX VRD REDWOOD
Founded2004
Commenced operationsAugust 8, 2007
HubsSan Francisco International Airport[1]
Focus citiesLos Angeles International Airport[2][3][4]
Frequent-flyer programeleVAte
Fleet size28[5] (+11 orders)
Destinations11
HeadquartersBurlingame, California, U.S.
Key peopleC. David Cush (CEO)
Donald J. Carty (Chairman)
Holly Nelson (CFO)
Websitewww.virginamerica.com

Virgin America, Inc. is a United States-based low-cost airline that began service on August 8, 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."[6] San Francisco International Airport is Virgin America's principal base of operations.[1] Virgin America's frequent flyer program is known as eleVAte and runs on a "dollars spent versus miles accrued" model.[7]

Virgin America, though the brainchild of British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, is a U.S. airline. By law, no more than 25% of a U.S. airline may be owned by foreign interests and must be under the "actual control" of U.S. citizens;[8] Black Canyon Capital LLC owns 75% of the capital stock and is responsible for appointing two-thirds of the voting members of the board of directors.[9] The remaining 25% of the company is owned by Virgin Group,[10] which also licenses the Virgin brand to the airline.

Virgin America, headquartered in Burlingame, California, is separate from Virgin Atlantic and as such is under no obligation to work with Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue, Virgin Galactic or any other companies that share the Virgin brand name. However, on June 3, 2009, Virgin America established an interline agreement with Virgin Blue's international subsidiary airline V Australia,[11] which allows Virgin America customers access to V Australia's trans-Pacific long haul network between Australia and the United States, and allows V Australia passengers access to Virgin America's network within the U.S. The airline is featured on Fly Girls, a reality TV show on The CW Network.

History

"Contents May Be Under Pressure" at San Francisco International Airport (A319).

In early 2004, Virgin Group announced its intent to start a new, United States-based, low-fare airline it named “Virgin USA.” At the time, Virgin USA expected flights to begin by mid-2005. After considering several key areas, the San Francisco Bay Area was picked to be the location of its flight operations center, and later its corporate headquarters.[12] The airline also changed its name from “Virgin USA” to “Virgin America.” Because it had trouble finding U.S. investors willing to gamble on a new airline, given the state of the already crowded U.S. airline industry, the launch date was pushed back from mid-2005 to early 2006.[13]

Virgin America secured its first amount of funding in late 2005 and submitted the required U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) certificate application.[14] The approval process was filled with debate from the support and opposition of the new airline. City and state representatives from California and New York led the support for the airline. 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 application was prolonged because of this opposition, which claimed Virgin America would not be under U.S. ownership or control.[15] The application was denied by the Department of Transportation on December 27, 2006.[16]

In order to achieve the necessary approval, Virgin America proposed a restructuring of the airline: voting shares would be held by a DOT-approved trust and only two Virgin Group directors would be on the eight-person board. In addition, Virgin America said that it would consider removing Richard Branson from the board, and possibly even dropping the “Virgin” brand entirely.[17] The airline was also prepared to remove then CEO Fred Reid “should the DOT find that necessary”.[18]

Virgin America was tentatively cleared to fly by the U.S. DOT on March 20, 2007, but would not be given full permission until it changed its business structure by enacting several reforms as specified by the DOT. These reforms included the replacement of Fred Reid and the limiting of Virgin Group’s influence on the airline.[19] Virgin America fought to keep Fred Reid as CEO,[20] however as part of the DOT’s final approval in May, he was only allowed to stay on nine months after the airline certification, six months as CEO and three months as a consultant.[21]

Virgin America started selling tickets in July 2007. Two years delayed, the airline made its inaugural New York and Los Angeles to San Francisco flights on August 8, 2007. In December 2007, C. David Cush replaced Reid as CEO of the airline.[22]

Virgin America reported a $270 million loss from August 2007, when it began operations, through the first three quarters of 2008.[23] The airline expects to turn a profit in 2010, and might record profitable quarters in 2009.[23]

In early March 2009, there were reports that the U.S-based investors sold their stakes in Virgin America.[24][25] Virgin America's CEO refused to comment on "private financial matters", but states that the US investors have not decided they want out of the company.[26][27][28]

On May 21, 2009, Virgin America became the first US Airline to offer Wi-Fi access via Gogo Inflight Internet on every flight. To kick off the service, Oprah Winfrey chatted with a flight attendant, Mandalay Roberts, aboard flight 780 between Seattle and Los Angeles using Skype. Voice over IP will not be allowed on flights normally. The airline will charge for the service.[29]. Between November 10, 2009 and January 15, 2010, the airline offered free WiFi with a subsidy from Google[30]

On March 18, 2010, Virgin America announced its intention to start flying to Toronto from Los Angeles and San Francisco in June 2010, which, pending government approval, would make it the airline's first international destination.[31]

On April 2, 2010, the DOT approved Virgin America's proposal to fly to Canada.[32]

Corporate offices

Virgin America leases 42,000 square feet (3,900 m2) of space at Bay Park Plaza II (formerly known as the Forbes Building), a building at 555 Airport Boulevard in Burlingame, California owned, leased, and managed by Equity Office.[33] Virgin America occupies Suite 450 in the building, which is located across a lagoon from U.S. Highway 101 (Bayshore Freeway).[33][34]

Destinations

Virgin America mood lighting

Virgin America plans on flying to major destinations throughout the United States and initially predicted that it would have approximately ten destinations within the first year of service and up to thirty after five years of service.[35]

At its San Francisco hub, Virgin America competes with United Airlines—a legacy carrier that provides substantial services from San Francisco—as well as the traditional full service Alaska Airlines, in addition to Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways—low-cost carriers that serve all three major San Francisco Bay Area airports.

Virgin America currently flies to nine destinations throughout the United States, and starting June 23, 2010, it will start service to Toronto, Canada.

Hub Hub
Focus city Focus city
Future Future date
City State/Province Country IATA ICAO Airport Begin End Ref
Boston Massachusetts  United States BOS KBOS Logan International Airport February 12, 2009 present [36]
Fort Lauderdale Florida  United States FLL KFLL Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport November 18, 2009 present [37]
Las Vegas Nevada  United States LAS KLAS McCarran International Airport October 10, 2007 present [38]
Los Angeles California  United States LAX KLAX Los Angeles International Airport[Focus city] August 8, 2007 present [39]
New York New York  United States JFK KJFK John F. Kennedy International Airport August 8, 2007 present [39]
Orange County California  United States SNA KSNA John Wayne Airport April 29, 2009 May 26, 2010 [40][41]
Orlando Florida  United States MCO KMCO Orlando International Airport October 2010[Future] present [41]
San Diego California  United States SAN KSAN San Diego International Airport February 12, 2008 present [42]
San Francisco California  United States SFO KSFO San Francisco International Airport[Hub] August 8, 2007 present [39]
Seattle Washington  United States SEA KSEA Seattle–Tacoma International Airport March 18, 2008 present [43]
Toronto Ontario  Canada YYZ CYYZ Toronto Pearson International Airport June 23, 2010 present [41]
Washington District of Columbia  United States IAD KIAD Washington Dulles International Airport September 26, 2007 present [44]

Fleet

"California Dreaming" at San Francisco International Airport
"Air Colbert", the aircraft used in Virgin America's inaugural flight, on the ground at San Francisco International Airport

Virgin America operates a fleet of 28 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft. Virgin America received its first Airbus A320 on February 24, 2006. Part of Virgin America's existing fleet had been used for charter flights arranged by Direct Air of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but that arrangement ended on August 4, 2009.

Virgin America solicited the public's help to name their aircraft, via a web contest. 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 (N621VA), named after comedian Stephen Colbert, and California Dreaming (N622VA).

The Virgin America fleet consists of the following aircraft as of January 2010:[45]

Aircraft Total Orders Passengers
(First/Main Cabin Select/Main Cabin)
Notes
Airbus A319-100 10 6 119 (8/12/99)
Airbus A320-200 18 5 149 (8/12/129)

Cabin

Virgin America First Class

Virgin America offers dual-class service on all flights it operates. Both cabins feature mood lighting, an unusual aspect of short/medium-haul airlines, said to create a more pleasant and relaxing environment for the passengers and crew.[46] 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 (1,400 mm) of pitch and are 28 inches (710 mm) 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 and receive dedicated airport check-in, security screening, and aircraft boarding. In first class, Red offers free live satellite television, free on-demand movies, free on-demand television programming and a selection of games.[47]

Main Cabin Select is Virgin America's premium economy product.[48] It is not a distinct class; instead, the service is located at Main Cabin seats in the exit rows and in front of bulkheads. Passengers are offered more conveniences than in normal Main Cabin seats and have 38 inches (970 mm) of seat pitch and dedicated luggage bins. Like in First Class, meals, refreshments and alcoholic beverages are free, as are the premium television channels and movies. Airport check-in, security screening, and aircraft boarding are prioritized over Main Cabin passengers.[48]

Main Cabin seats offer 32 inches (810 mm) of pitch and are 19.7 inches (500 mm) wide with power-ports and adjustable headrests. In Main Cabin, Red offers free live satellite television, pay-per-view on-demand movies and on-demand television shows, a small selection of free games and a larger selection of games for purchase.[47] Passengers can purchase snacks, meals, and alcoholic beverages from their seats via Red. Flight attendants receive the orders via a tablet PC on the food cart thereby eliminating the traditional food and beverage service.[49]

References

  1. ^ a b "About Us". Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  2. ^ "Hub Guide". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  3. ^ Pae, Peter (2008-03-03). "Virgin America provokes fare wars at LAX". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  4. ^ "Virgin America Opens Stylish New Doors At LAX Terminal 3". 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  5. ^ "Planespotters". Retrieved 2008-12-20.
  6. ^ "On the Record: Fred Reid," The San Francisco Chronicle, March 19, 2006.
  7. ^ "What is Elevate?". Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  8. ^ See "Actual Control of U.S. Air Carriers" (Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking), 71 FR 26425, May 5, 2006.
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ Answer
  11. ^ http://www.virginblue.com.au/AboutUs/Media/NewsandPressReleases/P_008865.htm
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "Start Of Virgin America Delayed; Branson's Airline Apparently Needs More Investors," The San Francisco Chronicle, April 9, 2005.
  14. ^ "Taking To The Air: Low-fare Startup Virgin America Says It Has The Funding To fly," The San Francisco Chronicle, December 9, 2005.
  15. ^ See "Virgin America Inc. - Certificate - Interstate Scheduled Air Transportation", U.S. DOT Docket OST-2005-23307.
  16. ^ "Virgin America gets the no-go," The San Francisco Chronicle, December 28, 2006.
  17. ^ "Virgin Group makes concessions to get Virgin America flying," Air Transport World, January 19, 2007.
  18. ^ Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 22, 2007, p. 16.
  19. ^ United States Department of Transportation ruling
  20. ^ "Virgin America fights to keep CEO Reid," Air Transport World, April 12, 2007.
  21. ^ Aviation Week and Space Technology, September 17, 2007, p. 24
  22. ^ "Virgin America Appoints C. David Cush as Chief Executive Officer". Yahoo. 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  23. ^ a b Young, Eric (2009-02-02). "Virgin America has lost $270M". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  24. ^ Wall Street Journal. 2009-03-09 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123663746387076621.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo. Retrieved 2009-03-10. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ^ Bizjournals. 2009-03-11 http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2009/03/09/daily16.html. Retrieved 2009-03-11. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Virgin-America-proves-it-is-US-controlled-41132502.html. Retrieved 2009-03-11. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. ^ . 2009-03-11 http://cbs5.com/video/?id=47391@kpix.dayport.com. Retrieved 2009-03-11. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ^ . 2009-03-12 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/12/business/NA-US-Virgin-America-Citizenship.php. Retrieved 2009-03-12. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ http://www.virginamerica.com/va/press/2009/May/Virgin_America_First_Airline_to_Offer_Fleetwide_WiFi.html
  30. ^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10378027-266.html
  31. ^ "Virgin America Launches 2010 Growth Plans; Summer Expansion to Orlando, Toronto". Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  32. ^ "DOT approves Virgin America application to Canada". Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  33. ^ a b Simmers, Tim. "Virgin America airline destined for Burlingame." Oakland Tribune. January 13, 2006.
  34. ^ "Virgin America is teaming with Virgin Galactic." Virgin America. Accessed September 24, 2008.
  35. ^ Virgin America FAQs Accessed November 2, 2007.
  36. ^ "Virgin America To Launch Service To Boston Logan" (Press release). Virgin America. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  37. ^ "Virgin America New Golden State to Gold Coast Service Takes Off" (Press release). Virgin America. 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  38. ^ (Press release). Virgin America. 2007-10-10 http://www.virginamerica.com/va/press/2007/Oct/Vegas-Release.html?title=Virgin%20America%20&%20Vegas:%20Just%20Married. Retrieved 2010-03-19. {{cite press release}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "titleVirgin America & Vegas: Just Married" ignored (help)
  39. ^ a b c "Virgin America Takes to the Skies" (Press release). Virgin America. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  40. ^ "Virgin America Launches New Service To Orange County" (Press release). Virgin America. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  41. ^ a b c Mutzabaugh, Ben (2010-03-18). "Virgin America announces big expansion that includes Orlando, Toronto". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  42. ^ "Virgin America Launches Service to San Diego" (Press release). Virgin America. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  43. ^ "Virgin America launches Service From San Francisco To Seattle" (Press release). Virgin America. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
  44. ^ (Press release). Virgin America. 2007-09-26 http://www.virginamerica.com/va/press/2007/Sep/Launches-Service-IAD-SFO.html?title=Virgin%20America%20Launches%20Service%20between%20Washington%20and%20San%20Francisco. Retrieved 2010-03-19. {{cite press release}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |name= ignored (help)
  45. ^ Virgin America Fleet Information - Planespotters.net
  46. ^ Grossman, David (2007-11-09). "Virgin America: A New Airline With a Great Product and a Few Bugs". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-12-28. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  47. ^ a b "Virgin America-Our Difference" (Flash). Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  48. ^ a b "Virgin America Rolls Out Main Cabin Select And Refundable Fares". 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  49. ^ "Eat Better. Eat Onboard." Virgin America. Retrieved on December 8, 2008.

Video clips