Virgin America Cleared for Takeoff

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Virgin America receives permission to fly

 

U.S. regulators say the carrier's revised plan complies with laws that limits foreign ownership of domestic airlines.

From the Associated Press

 

May 19, 2007

 

Bay Area-based start-up airline Virgin America won final approval Friday to take to the skies in the United States.

 

Federal regulators approved the company's revised plan to operate U.S.-based commercial flights after the company made numerous concessions, including replacing its chief executive, to allay concerns about the foreign ownership stake of Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group.

 

Virgin America, based in Burlingame, Calif., is expected to start service this summer with flights from San Francisco International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

 

Within 12 months of getting underway, the airline plans to serve San Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Washington's Dulles International Airport. The company is also considering numerous other cities for future service.

 

The Transportation Department said Virgin's revised plan, filed in January, was now in compliance with laws that limit foreign control of domestic air carriers.

 

That includes company ownership rules that cap foreign control of a U.S. airline at 25% of voting shares. Virgin also agreed to replace Chief Executive Fred Reid, the former Delta Air Lines Inc. president hired by British billionaire Branson, founder of London-based Virgin Atlantic Airways.

 

The DOT said it concluded that replacing Reid with a CEO not affiliated with Branson's Virgin Group would allay worries about the airline's independence.

 

In December, the DOT tentatively denied Virgin's application, mainly because of ties to Branson, who has long said he wanted a U.S.-based airline.

 

Major U.S. airlines, including AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Delta and Continental Airlines Inc., unsuccessfully sought to prevent Virgin America from flying.

 

Los Angeles Times

 

So it's going to fly finally!! Congrats to Richard!! :drinks:

[Pieter C. 5]

Finally !!!

 

It has been such a long struggle for this airline to start operating... <_>

[Mohd Idham 0]

Wow wow....finally......this airline is mega....congratulation to Virgin...

[Seth K 3]

They will offer the best domestic product in US!.............soon

[Andrew Ong 1]

From NBC:

 

Airline Virgin America To Offer Flights Starting At $44 One-Way

 

LOS ANGELES -- A new start-up airline that will offer service to LAX for as low as $44 one-way and such amenities as in-flight entertainment systems began selling tickets Thursday.

 

Virgin America, the latest venture of British entrepreneur Richard Branson, is to begin service Aug. 8 with five daily flights between San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, and two flights between San Francisco and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

 

Fares for flights between LAX and SFO will start at $44 one way for coach and $149 first class for the San Francisco-based airline.

 

Service between LAX and New York, for $129 coach and $389 first class each way, is to begin Aug. 29.

 

"As the only California-based airline, our goal is to provide topnotch service at low fares," said CEO Fred Reid. "We can't wait to welcome guests on Aug. 8."

 

The inaugural flights will include live entertainment celebrities at 35,000 feet. The airline will auction tickets for the event to support KIPP -- the Knowledge Is Power Program, a network of free, open-enrollment, college- preparatory public schools for underserved communities.

 

Virgin America will provide custom-designed leather seats, mood lighting and an entertainment system that includes on-demand movies and TV, games, music and online chat rooms. Passengers will be able to order food or chat with other passengers from their own video screen.

 

The airline currently has 400 employees and expects to have 1,000 new jobs in its first year and up to 5,000 employees within five years. It plans to serve about 10 cities within the first year and up to 30 cities within five years.

 

Link:

http://www.knbc.com/travelgetaways/1371799...l=headlineclick

[Pieter C. 5]

Virgin America unveils initial schedule, launches ticket sales

 

Friday July 20, 2007

Virgin America began selling tickets yesterday on its website and through a toll-free phone number for flights to San Francisco, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington Dulles and Las Vegas.

 

Passenger service will begin Aug. 8 with twice-daily SFO-JFK and five-times-daily SFO-LAX flights. "Today is a great day for our team members, for the state of California and for consumers everywhere," said CEO Fred Reid, who will leave the airline later this year as part of its arrangement with US authorities who had expressed concern over the carrier's citizenship.

 

Fares will start at $44 one way in coach and $149 in first class, excluding taxes and charges, and Virgin America will offer "the most advanced inflight entertainment system in the skies," Reid said.

 

SFO-JFK service will become thrice-daily on Aug. 19 and four-times-daily from Sept. 9. Twice-daily JFK-LAX flights will start Aug. 29, becoming thrice-daily Sept. 16. Twice-daily SFO-IAD launches Sept. 26, thrice-daily SFO-LAS begins Oct. 10 and twice-daily LAX-IAD will start Oct. 24. The airline said connections between LAS and both JFK and IAD will be available from Oct. 10. Its San Diego schedule "will be announced at a later date." Final operating authority from the US Dept. of Transportation is pending.

 

Yesterday Virgin America announced a deal with Orbitz under which the online travel company will be the carrier's exclusive Web-based travel agency and will offer VA tickets on Orbitz and CheapTickets. It is the first airline to sell tickets using Travelport's airRES reservations system.

 

 

[Pieter C. 5]

Virgin America reports $175.4 million deficit through first nine months of 2008

 

Tuesday February 3, 2009

 

Having lost a bid to receive confidential treatment for financial and traffic information that it is required to file with the US Dept. of Transportation as a certificated carrier, Virgin America yesterday said it suffered a $175.4 million loss in the first three quarters of 2008.

 

The airline had sought to have the so-called Form 41 information kept out of DOT's publicly available databases. San Francisco-based VX launched in August 2007 and now operates 28 A320s to Los Angeles, New York JFK, San Diego, Washington Dulles, Las Vegas and Seattle. Boston joins the network next week and flights to Orange County begin in April.

 

President and CEO David Cush said, "These results are consistent with our expectations, with steady quarter-over-quarter growth in unit revenue since launch." He added that VX is "confident in our business model and are in a strong position as a well-financed startup with solid revenue growth and load factors, a modern, fuel efficient fleet, a maturing route network, and award-winning service the public has embraced."

 

Nine-month revenue came to $259.6 million with a load factor of 77.6%. Third-quarter standalone load factor was 81.4%. The carrier said quarter-over-quarter unit revenue improved 28% in the 2008 first quarter, 26% in the second and 10 % in the third, while third-quarter unit revenue rose more than 75% from the fourth quarter of 2007--its first full operating quarter--"despite a near-doubling of capacity."

 

"We're in this for the long haul and are fully funded through our projected profitability date, a strong indication of our investors' confidence in our business model," Cush said. VX said its complete results will be public later this week.