August 8, 2007
Inauspicious Virgin Flight For New Branson Venture
Oh, sweet irony.
Citing reasons to get into the airline game, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin fame said, "the American airline industry is abysmal."
That may be true, sir, but it looks like not even Sir Richard's new venture is immune to, you know, reality.
The flight, coming from New York, was supposed to arrive at SFO simultaneously with a flight from Los Angeles in a big, staged scene on twin runways. Always a flair for the dramatic with this guy.
We're not superstitious, but if we were we might think this an unfortunate beginning to a venture.
Today is launch day for Virgin America Airlines, which will call SFO its home base and try to compete on the basis of low fares and high service.
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Wow, I had no idea that's what they had planned for a "launch day" event. That's...not smart at all! Just one delay would derail the whole thing, and it's all out of his control.
Even so, it's a little premature to bury Virgin America. I could see them doing well, as long as their fares stay in the ballpark, they'll get plenty of business from people who like their amenities.
Oh, definitely not burying them, my friend. In fact, as someone who makes that SFO/LAX trip more than I'm conformable with, I'm quite optimistic about the prospects. Just thought it was a funny way to start.
I'll be flying Virgin America whenever the destination is on their list - of course I'll support the "hometown airline" (the City of Burlingame, VA's headquarters, just keeps coming up on this site with links to San Francisco, eh?)
After having to suffer thru Delta for a total of $188 ONE WAY on Monday, I will be using this whenever possible!
Delta - Worst Airline EVAH! Their motto should be "We make United look good!"
The planes are very nice. I took the first SFO-LAX flight today.
NY had terrible weather today. It is amazing they were only delayed a bit. No matter how much VX wants to provide better service, they are flying to some very congested airports, so we will see how things go.
I am so tired of the major US carriers cutting everything. It is refreshing to fly an airline that wants to try and offer some sort of service. It may not matter as much between SF and LA, but SF-JFK is a premium market. VX's pricing is quite enticing.