Let's hope Virgin America brings its fares here eventually

08-19-2007

On Aug. 8, after three years of planning, negotiations and back-room bargaining, Virgin America finally got off the ground.

The low-cost airline's first two flights landed simultaneously at San Francisco International -- one arriving from New York's JFK airport, the other from Los Angeles International.

In addition to three daily round trips from each airport, Virgin America will introduce service to Washington Dulles on Sept. 26 and Las Vegas on Oct. 10. With its headquarters in New York City and main airport in San Francisco, the airline's executives expect to add as many as five more cities this year and as many as 30 within five years.

Pittsburgh International Airport could be one of them. Local airport officials have confirmed we're being considered among Virgin America's second tier of cities.

Of course, plenty of other upstart carriers have debuted amid great promises, only to find the actualization of the plan far more problematic. But no one should underestimate the prospects of Virgin America.

It is the brainchild of Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur and marketing genius behind myriad Virgin ventures from records to railroads, who has long worked to establish a U.S. counterpart to the sprawling airline empire he has created since spawning Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984.

Displaying a remarkable flair for dramatic marketing and a high degree of customer service, Virgin Atlantic has weathered economic tribulations and cutthroat competition, particularly from its arch rival British Airways, and has become a significant and established long-distance carrier.

With a fleet of 67 planes, it now provides flights to 60 world destinations from its London hubs at Heathrow and Gatwick, flying just less than 5 million passengers last year. Then there are the other Virgin Group airlines -- Virgin Express (Belgium), Virgin Blue (Australia), Virgin Nigeria and Virgin Galactic (proposed suborbital space flights) -- evidence of Mr. Branson's aggressive entrepreneurial instincts.

Still, the effort to create a Virgin carrier for the United States has been tortuous. Mr. Branson's wish to gain a toehold here has been stymied by Department of Transportation regulations that stipulate a domestic airline cannot be more than 25 percent owned by foreigners and must be controlled by U.S. citizens.

Efforts to have the rules relaxed were countered by intense lobbying by a consortium of U.S. pilots and legacy carriers, including Delta, Continental, American and United. To get the deal done, Mr. Branson had to settle for a 25 percent ownership stake and stipulations that will supposedly ensure Virgin America's independence. For example, Fred Reid, Branson's pick for the company's chief executive, will be allowed to serve only for six months, after which a more independent boss will take over.

It's safe to assume Virgin America will try to follow the formula for success developed by Virgin Atlantic: hip, snazzy service, offering amenities such as in-flight meals and in-seat entertainment systems and data centers, all backed by clever, edgy promotions. For example, one of the first flights was dubbed Air Colbert, after comedian Stephen Colbert, who came along for the ride. One of the Virgin America craft has been named Jefferson Airplane after the San Francisco-based rock group.

Despite the thrill, Virgin America is still billed as a low-cost airline. Its initial, two-week advance purchase, one-way fares between New York and San Francisco range from $139 coach (called Main Cabin) to $449 in first class, with Los Angeles/San Francisco fares starting at $49 each way. Those fares will likely rise.

The entertainment and food options will be the same in both classes, but first-class seats will be wider (28 inches vs. 19.7 inches) with more legroom (55 inches of pitch vs. 32 inches). In addition, first-class seats will have various recline options and massaging functions.

For aircraft, Virgin America will be flying Airbus A319 (configured for 118 passengers) and A320 airliners (configured for 146 passengers).

We should certainly look forward to the prospect of welcoming a new airline to Pittsburgh International. And the idea is not entirely pie in the sky.

According to JoAnn Jenny, airport director of communications, discussions have already begun. "We met with Virgin America in June at the Tucson air show and discussed the possibility of them coming to Pittsburgh. They indicated we are definitely on their second tier of cities. While there's no defined application process at this point, we are definitely on each other's radar screens," she said.

Let's keep our fingers crossed. In addition to having another low-cost domestic carrier here, we can dream about the possibility that Virgin Atlantic might be enticed to introduce nonstop service from here to London or another European destination. We would be an excellent alternative to overcrowded East Coast corridor airports.

The route map that might have worked for US Airways had other decisions been made could serve the two Virgins very well.

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