Virgin America is an American carrier operating between 2007 and 2018; it was integrated into Alaska Airlines in 2018. The airline is primarily focused on operating low tariff services between cities on the West Coast and other major metropolitan areas, with higher quality services. Its headquarters are headquartered in Burlingame, the San Francisco Bay Area, and operate domestic flights to major US cities, mainly from hubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as smaller focus city operations at Love Field in Dallas.
The airline began operations in 2007 as an independent carrier using licensed branding from Virgin Group based in the UK, which also controls Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia airline brands. Alaska Air Group acquired Virgin America in April 2016, costing approximately $ 4 billion and continues to operate Virgin America under its own name and brand until the airline fully merges into Alaska Airlines on April 24, 2018.
Video Virgin America
Histori
Pendirian (2004-2007)
In early 2004, Virgin Group announced its intention to establish a low cost carrier based in the United States called "Virgin USA". At that time, Virgin USA expects flights to begin in mid-2005. After considering several key areas, the San Francisco Bay Area was chosen as the central location of its flight operations and then as its corporate headquarters. The airline changed its name from "Virgin USA" to "Virgin America" ​​and because of the difficulty in finding US investors who want to gamble on new airlines in the already crowded industry, the launch date is backwards from mid-2005 to early 2006.
Virgin America secured US investors Black Canyon Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners at the end of 2005. After the new owners joined, the Virgin General Counsel submitted the required US Department of Transportation certificate application on 9 December 2005. Unfortunately, despite significant public support for the new airline based in California, the approval process is mired in debate between the city of support and state representatives from California and New York and the national aviation union, the Airline Pilots Association and potential competitors of Continental Airlines. The Virgin America app review is extended because of this opposition, which claims Virgin America, as a UK-based subsidiary of Virgin Group, will not be under US ownership or control. This application was initially rejected by the Ministry of Transportation on December 27, 2006.
To reach the necessary approvals, Virgin America's General Adviser David Pflieger and CEO Fred Reid submitted a revised petition proposing an airline restructuring in January 2007; voting shares will be held by a trust approved by the Department of Transportation and only two Virgin Group directors will be on the board of eight people. In addition, Virgin America is open to get rid of Richard Branson from the airline's board of directors and possibly remove the "Virgin" brand from the title at once. Virgin America was tentatively liberated to fly by the US Department of Transport on March 20, 2007, on condition that the airline would change its business structure, including restrictions on foreign ownership shares to 25% and the replacement of Fred Reid (who owns employed by Virgin Group). The airline is protesting against the terms of the removal of Reid to federal regulators, arguing that other provisions ensure that business will not be ruled by foreign interests. The Department of Transport's final agreement enabled Reid to remain involved with Virgin America until February 2008, after which he was asked to leave the company.
Virgin Group operations (2007-2016)
Virgin America began selling tickets in July 2007. On August 8, 2007 the airline made its inaugural flight in New York and Los Angeles to San Francisco - the plane was named "Air Colbert", after comedian Stephen Colbert. In December 2007, C. David Cush replaced Reid as CEO of the airline. From the start of the operation, Virgin America reported losses, starting with $ 270 million in its first month, until the third quarter of 2010, when it reached its first profit of $ 7.5 million.
On May 21, 2009, Virgin America became the first US carrier to offer Wi-Fi access via Gogo Inflight Internet on every flight. Between November 10, 2009 and January 15, 2010, the airline offers free WiFi with subsidies from Google. On December 17, 2014, Virgin America announced that it would offer WiFi inflight ATG-4 fleet service faster than Gogo, at speeds three times faster than the first generation system.
In March 2010, Virgin America announced its intention to start flying to Toronto from Los Angeles and San Francisco, making it the airline's first international destination. Following the approval of the Department of Transport on Virgin America's proposal to fly to Canada, international service began on June 29, 2010. However, due to higher operating costs and higher demand for Dallas/Fort-Worth, Virgin America suspended Toronto service on April 6, 2011 Virgin America began its service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in December 2010, and continued until after the revocation of the Wright Amendment in October 2014, when the airline hired two gates and established a focus city in Dallas Love Field and increased the number of connecting destinations. As a result, Virgin America shipped nearly 31,000 passengers through Dallas Love Field in its first month, achieving a market share of 3.58% at Dallas Love Field.
Virgin America announced in January 2011 firm orders for sixty new Airbus A320 planes, including three new Airbus A320neos, to be delivered starting in 2016, as a formal expansion of the initial commitment made by Richard Branson at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2010. On In April 2011, the Virgin America hub at San Francisco International Airport moved to the newly renovated Terminal 2, sharing a gateway with American Airlines. In late October 2011, the airline migrated to the Saber global distribution system (GDS) that handles reservations, frequent-flier accounts, flight operation data, and crew scheduling. Difficulties with the turn triggered many customer complaints, due to the initial technical malfunctions surrounding the program. On December 12, 2012, Virgin America opened their first airport lounge, Virgin America Loft, at Los Angeles International Airport. Virgin America has the first public offering on the NASDAQ stock exchange on November 14, 2014, selling 13.3 million shares to raise $ 307 million for the company.
A number of airlines interested in Virgin America's takeover approach the airline by the end of 2015, prompting Virgin America to connect with an undisclosed financial advisor on how and if to continue selling. Alaska Air Group and JetBlue Airways Corporation are the two companies most interested in making an offer to buy airlines from Virgin Group. In December 2015, Alaska was interested in $ 44.75 per share, before JetBlue manifested its interest in February 2016. A bidding war occurred that peaked on March 31 and April 1 at $ 57 per share, 47% higher than the day's close at $ 38.9. On April 4, 2016, Alaska Air Group announced that it has agreed to purchase Virgin America for $ 2.6 billion. Including debts and aircraft leases, the transaction is worth about $ 4 billion. Had the merger agreement been terminated by Virgin America, they would be contractually required to pay the Alaska Air Group termination fee of $ 78.5 million.
Virgin American founder Richard Branson expressed his disappointment at the merger between Alaska Airlines and the airline he founded. In July 2016, Virgin America shareholders approved the merger, leaving the approval by the US Department of Justice as the only predictable obstacle. In September 2016, a lawsuit was filed against Alaska Airlines by consumers to block a merger between two operators, where the Alaska Air Group settled in court in December 2016. Subsequently, the Justice Department approved the merger, which was completed on December 14. After the acquisition, the former chief financial officer Alaska Airlines, Peter Hunt, became president of Virgin America, while former chief operating officer and Alaska Airlines president, Ben Minicucci, became chief executive officer.
Virgin America is scheduled to become and a launch customer for Airbus A321neo, with the airline placing a firm order for 10 aircraft through its rental company GE Capital Aviation Services. A321neo first shipped in Hamburg to Virgin America and commenced operations on May 31, 2017; a total of five A321neos will be delivered to Virgin by 2017 and five by 2018 if Alaska Airlines decides to keep the Airbus fleet. In early February 2017, Alaska Air Group said it was working with GE in a setting where it would not accept the 10th shipment of jets ordered, in order to maintain Boeing's dominated fleet. The presentation given by Alaska Airlines chief financial officer in March 2017 shows that Alaska will take delivery of all 10 leased A321neos, and will absorb and operate the existing A319 and A320 Virgin America fleets up to at least 2024.
As part of the merger, some Virgin facilities will be integrated into Alaska products. When the Alaska Group licensed Virgin brand from Virgin Group, Branson showed willingness to relaunch the airline after the Virgin America brand was stopped.
Virgin America made its final aviation flight under callsign "Redwood" on January 10, 2018. The next day, on January 11, 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a single operating certificate for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America combined.
Virgin America flights continue to operate on Virgin America aircraft, crew and brand names until April 25, 2018, when airlines join the same passenger service system. The recent departure of Virgin America's revenue was Flight 1948 at 21.31, traveling from San Francisco airline headquarters to its other center in Los Angeles, while Virgin America's last departure was a charter of employees operating as Flight 1947 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, departing at 21:35 and operating under the nickname "Redwood" Virgin America. Overnight, portions of the company serving customers (including flight number, website, and airport check-in kiosk) were changed to use the Alaska Airlines brand.
Although passengers only see the Alaska Airlines brand online and at the airport after April 26, 2018, the Virgin livery aircraft is expected to continue flying until late 2019. Alaska began painting the Airbus Virgin America jet into Alaska colors in January 2018 and is expected to take nearly two years to painting all aircraft. Additionally, the Airbus jet will not be equipped with a seat similar to an Alaska Boeing jet through September 2018, on another project that will take several months to complete.
Maps Virgin America
Company affairs
Business trends
The main trends for Virgin America over the last few years are shown below (as in the year ended 31 December):
Office
Virgin America rented 68,000 square feet (6,300m 2 ) space at Bay Park Plaza II (formerly known as the Forbes Building), a building at 555 Airport Boulevard in Burlingame, California in San Francisco Bay Area, owned, leased, and managed by the Equity Office. Virgin America occupies 500 suites in the building, located across the lagoon from Highway 101 USA (Bayshore Freeway).
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Destination
In April 2018, Virgin America flew to a total of twenty-four destinations, including twenty-one domestic destinations and three destinations in Mexico. Its main hub is located at San Francisco International Airport, with its secondary hub at Los Angeles International Airport. Virgin America also operates the Las Vegas - New York (JFK) route as well as flights to and from Dallas Love Field.
The airline has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
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Fleet
On January 10, 2018, the Airbus all-American fleet comprises the following aircraft:
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Cabin
Indoor entertainment
Virgin America offers double class service on all flights it operates. Both cabins feature mood lighting and all seats are equipped with Panasonic Avionics or an in-flight personal entertainment system that runs a special GUI touch screen called Red . In July 2010, the Red software has been upgraded to version 2.0 across the fleet. This update includes new features such as an updated position mapping system powered by Google Maps, in-flight shopping, and open tab capabilities. The Red system was upgraded in June 2015, introducing the new Android seatback touch screen service and the new position mapping system by Flightpath 3D.
Seating
The First Class seats offer a 55 inch (1,400 mm) pitch and a width of 21 inches (530 mm). This chair is equipped with a power port, adjustable headrest, massage function, tablet friendly tabletop (with two positions), and various lying controls. First class passengers receive free meals, drinks and alcoholic beverages, small appliances, long-distance guests receive large blankets & amp; pillows and receive dedicated airport check-in, security checks, and boarding aircraft. In first class, Red offers free live satellite television, free on-demand movies, free on-demand television programs and game options. Guests can also take advantage of GoGo for limited, but free messaging on certain platforms. Front WC is only for first class guests.
Main Cabin Select is Virgin America's premium economic product. It's not a different class; on the contrary, at A319-100 and A320-200, the service is located in the Main seat of the Cabin on the exit row and behind the bulkhead. On their A321neo, the service is located in the first three lines of the Main Cabin. Passengers are offered more comfort than in the Main Chair The regular cabin and has 38 inch (970 mm) pitch seats, 17.7 inches (450 mm) wide and special bins. As in first class, free food, beverages and spirits, such as premium television channels and movies. Airport check-in, security checks, and aircraft boarding are prioritized on Main Cabin passengers. Guests can also take advantage of GoGo for limited, but free messaging on certain platforms. The toilet at the back is for all the passengers flying in the economy, including the Main Cabin Select.
The main cabin seats offer a 32 inch (810 mm) pitch and a 17.7 inch (450 mm) width with adjustable power port and headrest. Following a merger with Alaska Airlines, Red mimics a flight service in Alaska by offering live satellite television broadcasts, on demand movies, on-demand television shows and free games. In aligning further with Alaska Airlines, all movies and free content for all guests, regardless of cabin. Additionally, in addition to the free drink service, passengers can order more free non-alcoholic beverages, or buy snacks, food, branded specialty kits, pillows/blankets and alcoholic beverages from their seats via Red . Guests can also take advantage of GoGo for limited, but free messaging on certain platforms.
Alaska Air Group has stated that as part of its reconfiguration, the Virgin Class seats will be removed and replaced with different models to streamline products with Alaska Airlines products. The seat, although considered a downgrade of the current seat, has only 41 "seat pitch, slightly more comfortable than the Alaska Airlines 737 Class One product, retaining the Virgin America footrests, and the placement of different powerports.The Main Class seats will increase from 8 to 16 seats on the A321neo, and 8-12 seats on the A319 and A320.
Alaska also configures the Airbus Virgin America fleet to include at least 3 Main Cabin Select lines, which are significant changes due to the current configuration including emergency exits (or 2nd row in the Airbus A320 fleet) as part of the Main Cabin Select; these chairs will now be considered the preferred chair/extra leg room after integration.
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Frequent Flyer Program
Virgin America's frequent flyer program is Elevate, which was discontinued on January 1, 2018. Increased members were given the option to convert Elevate points manually into Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Mileage until 31 January 2018, with each remaining Elevate points converted automatically in February 8 , 2018.
Upon the termination of Elevate in January 2018, flights operated by Virgin America may earn credits on the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Miles, Emirates Skywards, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer or Virgin Australia Frequocity Flyer until Virgin America is integrated into Alaska Airlines on April 25, 2018.
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References
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Further reading
- Tuttle, Brad. "Why Airlines Can Love Traveler Fail." TIME . October 25, 2012.
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External links
Media linked to Virgin America on Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Archive LetVAFly.com
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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