Founded January 26, 2004
Commenced operations August 8, 2007
IPO on NASDAQ, Nov 14, 2014, Raising $307 million for the company.
Merger Announced with Alaska Airlines April 4, 2016 for $2.6 billion.
Ceased Branded operations April 24, 2018
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. 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.
Opposition and setbacksVirgin America secured its first amount of funding in late 2005 and submitted the required U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) certificate application. 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 existing competitor U.S. 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. The application was denied by the Department of Transportation on December 27, 2006.
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. The airline was also prepared to remove then-CEO Fred Reid "should the DOT find that necessary".
Clearance and take-off
Fred Reid and Richard Branson
Airbus A319 "Contents May Be Under Pressure" at San Francisco International AirportVirgin 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. Virgin America fought to keep Fred Reid as CEO, However, as part of the DOT’s final approval in May, Reid was allowed to stay on nine months after the airline certification, six months as CEO and three months as a consultant.
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 Fred Reid as CEO of the airline.
CEO David Cush
Virgin America reported a $270 million loss from August 2007, when it began operations, through the first two quarters of 2010. The airline reported its first quarterly profit, of $7.5 million, in the third quarter of 2010.
In early March 2009, there were reports that the U.S-based investors sold their stakes in Virgin America. Virgin America's CEO refused to comment on "private financial matters", but stated that the U.S. investors had not that decided they wanted out of the company.
On May 21, 2009, Virgin America became the first U.S. 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. Between November 10, 2009, and January 15, 2010, the airline offered free WiFi with a subsidy from Google.
2010s
In March 2010, Virgin America announced its intention to start flying to Toronto from Los Angeles and San Francisco, which, pending government approval, would make it the airline's first international destination. On April 2, 2010, the DOT approved Virgin America's proposal to fly to Canada, and flights began on June 29, 2010. However, due to high operating costs and higher demand for Dallas/Fort-Worth, Virgin America terminated Toronto service on April 6, 2011. Virgin America began its service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on December 1, 2010, with non-stop to LAX and SFO.
In 2010, Black Canyon sold its stake in the airline to VAI Partners, a group of investors lead by Cyrus Capital Partners.
In April 2011, Virgin America’s hub at San Francisco International Airport relocated to the newly remodeled Terminal 2, sharing the gates with American Airlines. In late October 2011, the airline migrated to Sabre’s global distribution system (GDS) that handles reservations, frequent-flier accounts, flight operations data and crew scheduling, needed to “handle future growth”, according to the Wall Street Journal. Difficulties with the changeover sparked widespread customer complaints.
On December 12, 2012, Virgin America introduced their first airport lounge, entitled the Virgin America Loft. The Virgin America Loft is located at LAX's Terminal 3 and drinks, snacks, and Wi-Fi are provided complimentary. While Elevate Gold and Elevate Silver members receive a select number of complimentary day passes each year, any passenger flying Virgin America or another Virgin America airline partner may purchase day passes to the Virgin America Loft.
Virgin Group operations (2007–2016)
"Air Colbert", the aircraft used on Virgin America's inaugural flight, at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport
Virgin America began selling tickets in July 2007. On August 8, 2007, the airline made its inaugural New York and Los Angeles to San Francisco flights — the aircraft was named "Air Colbert", after comedian Stephen Colbert. In December 2007, C. David Cush replaced Reid as CEO of the airline. From the beginning of operations, Virgin America reported losses, beginning with $270 million in its first month, until the third quarter of 2010, when it achieved its first profit of $7.5 million.
On May 21, 2009, Virgin America became the first U.S. airline to offer Wi-Fi access via Gogo Inflight Internet on every flight. Between November 10, 2009, and January 15, 2010, the airline offered free WiFi with a subsidy from Google. On December 17, 2014, Virgin America announced that it would offer faster fleet-wide ATG-4 in-flight WiFi service from Gogo, with speeds three times faster than the first generation system.
Virgin America's check-in area at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
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 Department of Transportation's approval of Virgin America's proposal to fly to Canada, international service began with flights to Toronto Pearson International Airport on June 29, 2010. However, due to high operating costs, response from competitors, slower growth than anticipated, and higher demand for Dallas/Fort Worth, Virgin America terminated 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 repeal of the Wright Amendment in October 2014, when the airline leased two gates and established a focus city at Dallas Love Field and enhanced the number of connecting destinations. As a result, Virgin America transported almost 31,000 passengers through Dallas Love Field in the first month, achieving 3.58% market share at Dallas Love Field.
Virgin America announced in January 2011 a firm order for sixty new Airbus A320 aircraft, including thirty new Airbus A320neos, that would be delivered starting in 2016, as a formal expansion of an initial commitment made by Richard Branson at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2010, though in November 2012 the airline deferred delivery of the aircraft to 2020. In April 2011, Virgin America's hub at San Francisco International Airport relocated to the newly remodeled Terminal 2, sharing the gates with American Airlines. In late October 2011, the airline migrated to Sabre's global distribution system (GDS) that handles reservations, frequent-flier accounts, flight operations data and crew scheduling. Difficulties with the changeover sparked widespread customer complaints, due to early technical malfunctions surrounding the program. On December 12, 2012, Virgin America opened their first airport lounge, the Virgin America Loft, at Los Angeles International Airport.
The Virgin America exhibit at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field
Alaska Airlines merger (2016–2018)
An Airbus A321 acquired by Alaska Airlines from Virgin America in the "More to Love" livery, depicting the acquisition of Virgin America by Alaska Airlines
An Airbus A320 repainted in the Alaska Airlines livery
Virgin America had its first public offering at 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 a takeover of Virgin America approached the airline in late 2015, prompting Virgin America to correspond with an undisclosed financial adviser about how and if to proceed with a sale. Alaska Air Group and JetBlue were the two most interested companies to make offers to purchase the airline from Virgin Group.[28] In December 2015, Alaska was interested at $44.75 per share, before JetBlue manifested its interest in February 2016. A bidding war ensued culminating on March 31 and April 1 at $57 per share, 47% higher than the day's closure at $38.9. On April 4, 2016, Alaska Air Group announced that it had agreed to buy Virgin America for $2.6 billion. Including debt and aircraft leases, the transaction was worth approximately $4 billion. Had the merger agreement been terminated by Virgin America, they would have been contractually obligated to pay Alaska Air Group a termination fee equal to $78.5 million.
Virgin America's founder Richard Branson expressed disappointment with the merger between Alaska Airlines and the airline he founded. In July 2016, Virgin America's shareholders approved the merger, leaving the approval by the United States Department of Justice as the only foreseeable hurdle. In September 2016, a lawsuit was filed against Alaska Airlines by consumers to block the merger between the two carriers, which the Alaska Air Group settled in court in December 2016. Subsequently, the Department of Justice approved the merger, which was completed on December 14. Following the acquisition, the former chief financial officer of Alaska Airlines, Peter Hunt, became the president of Virgin America, while the former chief operating officer and president of Alaska Airlines, Ben Minicucci, became the chief executive officer.
Virgin America became the launch customer for the Airbus A321neo, with the airline placing a firm order for 10 aircraft through leasing company GE Capital Aviation Services. The first A321neo was delivered in Hamburg to Virgin America and entered service on May 31, 2017; a total of five A321neos were delivered to Virgin in 2017 and five in 2018. In early February 2017, Alaska Air Group said it was working with GE on an arrangement where it would not take delivery of all 10 ordered jets, in favor of keeping a predominantly Boeing fleet.[38] A presentation given by Alaska Airlines' chief financial officer in March 2017 indicated that Alaska would take delivery of all 10 leased A321neos, and would absorb and operate Virgin America's existing A319 and A320 fleet through at least 2024.
As part of the merger, some of Virgin's amenities would be integrated into Alaska's product.[40] As Alaska Group was licensing the Virgin brand from Virgin Group, Branson indicated a willingness to relaunch the airline after the Virgin America brand was retired.
Virgin America made its final revenue flight under its callsign "Redwood" on January 10, 2018. The next day, on January 11, 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a single operating certificate for a combined Alaska Airlines and Virgin America.
Virgin America flights continued to operate using Virgin America aircraft, crew, and brand name until April 25, 2018, when the airlines merged into the same passenger service system. The final Virgin America revenue departure was Flight 1948 at 9:32 PM, traveling from the airline's San Francisco headquarters to its other hub in Los Angeles, while the true final Virgin America departure was an employee charter operating as Flight 1947 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which departed at 9:35 PM and operated under Virgin America's original "Redwood" callsign. Overnight, the customer-facing portions of the company (including flight numbers, website, and airport check-in kiosks) were converted to use the Alaska Airlines brand.
From April 25, 2018, passengers could only see the Alaska Airlines brand online and in airports, and virginamerica.com would redirect to alaskaair.com. Prior to the brand cutover, livery repainting of Virgin America's Airbus aircraft began in January 2018. Additionally, the interiors of the Airbus aircraft underwent refitting with seats similar to those in Alaska's Boeing aircraft from September 2018, in another project expected to take several months to complete, with the first aircraft refit and unveiled in early 2019. The last plane wearing the Virgin America livery, the one that operated Flight 1948, was repainted in Alaska Airlines livery on June 2, 2019. Following the completion of the repainting of Virgin America's aircraft, virginamerica.com instead redirected to Virgin Group's website virgin.com rather than to alaskaair.com, and Virgin America's social media profiles, such as its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were subsequently either merged with those of Alaska Airlines, had their accounts closed, or otherwise had their content largely removed.
Flight Attendants from the Fly Girls CW series that aired in 2010 Interior of the Virgin America Airbus A320
First Class Section
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A sample of the first class food served on Virgin America Flights
