Company Watch - Virgin Group.Aug 13, 2007 JetBlue, American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the and other rivals are competing on price, but JetBlue has no first-class seating and bigger airlines risk irritating frequent fliers, who relish upgrades, by filling their premium seats, especially at a discount. Some industry experts believe Virgin America Virgin America is a U.S. based low-cost airline that began service on 8 August 2007. The airline's stated aim is to provide low-fare, high-quality service for "long-haul point-to-point service between major metropolitan cities on the Eastern and West Coast seaboards". will capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. unprecedented customer dissatisfaction and trigger a service war, rather than a fare war. Virgin America will automatically have an advantage on transcontinental flights simply because it is based in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . Aug 9, 2007 Price-fixing scheme may cost Virgin, Qantas. Virgin Airlines may be required to pay restitution to passengers affected by its admitted price fixing price fixing n. a criminal violation of federal anti-trust statutes, in which several competing businesses reach a secret agreement (conspiracy) to set prices for their products to prevent real competition and keep the public from benefiting from price competition. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the U.S. Justice Department. Qantas Airways has also revealed that it may be subject to fines in the expanding investigation. Aug 6, 2007 Virgin America is now focused on building its business with USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. $44 one-way base fares between San Francisco and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and USD$139 between San Francisco and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . First class on the New York-San Francisco route is USD$389 one-way. Aug 9, 2007 Virgin America spent nearly two years under regulatory scrutiny and won approval to operate from the US Transportation Department only after promising to restructure its ownership and board and distance itself from Branson's Virgin Group, which runs Virgin Atlantic Airways. Several US-based carriers and unions opposed Virgin America's entrance on grounds that Branson would control the company in violation of a US law that limits control of airlines to US citizens. Virgin Group holds a minority stake in the company, which the law permits. Transportation authorities also worried that Virgin America Chief Executive Fred Reid, a veteran US and international airline executive, was too close to Branson and overseas interests and insisted he be replaced within months after Virgin America's inaugural flight. Reid did not make it to the JFK launch party before the flight because of the bad weather. Aug 9, 2007 Virgin America, the low-cost airline partly backed and fully branded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 in Shamley Green, Surrey, England), is a British entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 , launched on Wednesday with a splash of publicity -- but found its first flight delayed by a midsummer New York storm. The delay was a timely reminder for the new airline -- which offers leather seats, mood lighting, entertainment systems, first-class seating and low fares on point-to-point flights -- that the US domestic market is fraught with difficulties. Unfortunately for Branson, Virgin America's first flight to San Francisco missed its departure time after a downpour hit New York, flooding subways and stopping traffic. Aug 9, 2007 Virgin America's inaugural flight was delayed by bad weather in New York, taking off 50 minutes late at 10:50 a.m. Torrential rains made moving about the city difficult: Founder Richard Branson was late, and TV personality Stephen Colbert  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. gave up and went home. Virgin
America's first flight showcased what the carrier hopes will set it
apart from other airlines: comfort and hi-tech frills Frillssee frilled. . Video screens at every seat, in-flight text-messaging, and music in the lavatories combined with mood lighting and a hip atmosphere. Aug 9, 2007 Analysts say Virgin America not a threat to other airlines. Virgin America's entry into the crowded aviation market has already forced some airlines with directly competing flights to lower prices. But overall, some analysts expect the impact of the new player to be mild. The routes served by Virgin America are in such high demand, and available seats so limited, that a few more daily flights aren't likely to hurt carriers already in those markets. Aug 8, 2007 Virgin America passengers can download music, send text messages. Virgin America will offer air travelers the opportunity to text message and download music from a 3,000-song library on flights. Aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau Radio will provide a real-time broadband payment system. Aug 7, 2007
Like JetBlue Airways seven years ago, San Francisco-based Virgin America is accenting hip customer service on flights aboard new Airbus A320 aircraft in an attempt to build loyalty in an industry with sharply deteriorating reliability and customer satisfaction. Dave Barger, chief executive of New York-based JetBlue, told analysts two weeks ago that Virgin America overlaps on 10 percent of JetBlue's routes. "We're not going to take it lightly," he added. Aug 9, 2007 Editorial eMail: edit@AirGuideOnline.com For Air Transport & Travel Business Experts contact our Director of Content Aram Gesar eMail: bizintel@AirGuideOnline.com For more global news, reviews, features and analysis, please subscribe to our Newsletters: http://www.airguideonline.com/order_formsubs.htm#news To Advertise: advert@AirGuideOnline.com AirGuideFlightTracker is a new service that keeps travelers informed on flight and airport status via the Web. For more go to http://www.airguideonline.com/airline_tracker.htm Copyright [c] 2007 Pyramid Media Group / Air Travel Media. All rights reserved. |
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