Virgin America debuts new in-flight service and online shopping

by Melanie Nayer on


What’s one way to keep a girl entertained on a cross-country flight? Put on a little Johnny Depp and serve up some snacks, then throw in online shopping and a few glasses of wine and you’ve got one happy flier.

Just in time for my ‘virgin’ flight with Virgin America next week, the low-cost high-fun airline launches a whole new suite of in-flight entertainment. Here’s what is new at 35,000-feet (and what I’ll be doing next week):

Shop ’til you drop… err, land: Virgin America Elevate members can earn points toward a free flight just by shopping online in-flight. The “Red Store” has over 150 retailers including Apple, BarnesandNoble.com, BestBuy.com, macys.com, Target.com and more. This is great news for flyers who always seem to forget something.

Fine wine and flying: Virgin America was named the top domestic airline for in-flight wine by Global Traveler, and now the first-class cabin gets a new selection to choose from. Straight from the Mirassou winery in Northern California, Virgin America serves up two different varietals that are sure to please: Mirassou 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and the Mirassou 2008 Pinot Noir. (Personal opinion: Mirassou makes a great Pinot, and I highly recommend you try a glass if you’re in the mood. The combo of cherries, red currants and a hint of vanilla make for a smooth wine.) You can check out more of Virgin’s in-flight food and beverage service here.

The airline has a few new debuts coming soon, including their CW Reality Show “Fly Girls“, which launches March 24. In the meantime, this happy traveler is getting her bags ready for a little online shopping in the sky.

CW network to launch series on Virgin America flight attendants

by Grant Martin on

Have you ever wondered what Gadling’s resident flight attendant Heather Poole does in her spare time? It’s the stuff that legends are made out of — or maybe TV shows. That’s what the CW is banking on as they prepare to launch their new series called ‘Fly Girls’ this spring, in which they follow a hand full of Virgin America flight attendants around the country, working on planes, dating rockstars, hitting up parties and enjoying the life of young jetsetters.

As a recent article in the LA Times puts it, think Gossip Girl meets The Hills — in the airline industry. The perfect recipe for drama, right?

As to Virgin America‘s role in the overall series, they’re trying to stay hands off. That same article quotes Porter Gale, the VP of marketing as keen on letting the production crew do its thing without any egregious VX branding or advertorial throughout the series. Good call.

Having personally met two of the crew around which this series is based I’m interested to see how their personalities filter through CW. In real life they’re fantastic, friendly people and my hope is that the camera doesn’t change this.

Either way, ‘Fly Girls” premiers in March, at which point you can see Louise (left) and Mandy (right) in action. Keep an eye out for them in the skies in the meantime.

Cute dogs on airplanes

by Annie Scott on


You may remember Jamie Rhein’s story last month about Virgin America’s chihuahua rescue mission (Chihuahuas by the dozens on planes). Basically, the trendy but fickle Californians overloaded their local shelters with chihuahuas (about 4,700 of them). Conversely, on the east coast, there’s still a high demand for small dogs. Virgin America and Project Flying Chihuahua, along with American Airlines and Kinder4Rescue, a non-profit started by actress Katherine Heigl, joined forces to get the dogs to loving homes, saving thousands of them from possible euthanization.

You might have thought that, after that heart-warming tale, we were done with this story. Au contraire. Virgin America just sent us a bunch of pictures of cute dogs on planes. At first we thought “no, no, this is way too fluffy for Gadling,” but … well, we looked at the pictures and … chihuahuas … oh gosh … they broke us down. Puppies flying from California to New Hampshire and New York is, in fact, worthy of two articles after all.

Enjoy.
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Virgin America: Financials prove service makes a difference

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We’ve all gotten used to bailing out airlines that can’t figure out how to take care of their paying customers, operate profitably or otherwise get their respective acts together. And, there really isn’t much hope of this situation changing. To be an airline, in general, is to be dysfunctional … until you look at the new entrant, Virgin America. The privately held carrier announced on Friday that its revenue surged 38.3 percent from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.

The airline has amassed a collection of awards to back up its commitment to customer service, including “Best Domestic Airline” in Travel + Leisure‘s 2009 World’s Best Awards and “Best Business/First Class” among domestic airlines in Condé Nast Traveler‘s 2009 Business Travel Poll. And, the fact that the 1,500-person company is adding jobs in this market — beating both the recession and its worsened form in the travel business — suggests that it is possible for an airline to not just survive but actually succeed.

David Cush, Virgin America’s President and CEO, says, “Despite an uncertain economic climate since our 2007 launch, we’re pleased to report steady and strong financial performance and our first quarterly operating profit.” He adds, “At a time when flyers are more discerning than ever, it is clear that our low fares, award-winning guest service and innovative amenities continue to convert a growing network of loyal travelers. We look forward to bringing our unique value proposition to more travelers as we grow in 2010 and beyond. ”

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But, enough of the soft stuff — let’s turn to the numbers. That’s where you’ll find the truth in these matters. Cost containment and operational efficiency helped Virgin America post a record load factor of 86.6 percent, an increase of 5.2 percentage points year-over-year. Costs per available seat mile were pushed down 33.9 percent (24.4 percent ex-fuel), and operating income swung from a $54 million loss in the third quarter of 2008 to a $5.1 million gain this year. Along the way, Virgin America realized a mishandled baggage rate of 1.18 per thousand — three times better than the industry average. And, it attained an on-time rate of 87.2 percent.

Sorry to go “quant” and dwell on the numbers a bit, but they speak to a common theme here at Gadling: whether the airlines are doomed to fail … and be propped up by the government taxpayers and fail again … and so on. Virgin America’s proved that an airline can amass 1.1 million loyalty program members and fly 5.8 million passengers in just over two years and still find a way to get into the black. There is probably market share gain in this airline’s future, but it is making a big mistake: by not screwing up, it’s taking a pass on all the free money the feds are more than willing to give to an industry that refuses to help itself.