Virgin America adds more flights to Newark

San Francisco-based Virgin America will add 4X-daily service from Newark International Airport (EWR) to Los Angeles and San Francisco Nov. 18.

Virgin America director-network planning Adam Green said the new service “will allow us to offer our guests even more choice when traveling from the East Coast with up to 25 flights departing the New York metropolitan area each day. Our transcontinental schedule is also focused on convenience—we have timed the flights so that guests don’t have to travel too early in the morning or too late in the evening.”.

These additional flights bring to 10 the number of daily flights Virgin America operates from Los Angeles and 9X-daily from San Francisco to the New York City area. The airline flies to all three New York City area airports—JFK, La Guardia and EWR.

Virgin America announced July 26 the approval by the airline’s shareholders to the proposed merger with Alaska Air Group.  The US Department of Justice antitrust review of the merger and acquisition by Alaska Air Group of Virgin America is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.

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Airlines with the best on-time performance in U.S

U.S. airlines posted a better on-time rate for May, and complaints dropped compared with the same month last year.

The Department of Transportation said Thursday that 83.4 percent of domestic flights arrived on time in May, up from 80.5 percent a year earlier although down from April. The figures cover flights on the 12 largest airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines had the best on-time ratings, while Spirit Airlines and Virgin America had the worst.

Complaints are down 24 percent from a year earlier. Air travelers filed 1,134 complaints with the government in May.

1. Hawaiian Airlines, 92.1 percent

2. Alaska Airlines, 90.3 percent

3. Delta Air Lines, 88.6 percent

4. SkyWest, 85.1 percent

5. United Airlines, 83.7 percent

6. ExpressJet, 83.5 percent

7. Southwest Airlines, 81.2 percent

8. JetBlue Airways, 80.7 percent

9. American Airlines, 80.7 percent

10. Frontier Airlines, 80.2 percent

11. Virgin America, 76.7 percent

12. Spirit Airlines, 76.4 percent

Total for all reporting airlines: 83.4 percent

Alaska Airlines Considering to Keep Virgin America Brand Name After Merger

Alaska Airlines CEO, Brad Tilden, commented that there is still debate whether both brands, Alaska and Virgin America, should be kept separated. The Seattle Times reports.

The Seattle-based carrier recently announced plans to buy Virgin America, a deal which would transform the airline into a major powerhouse on the West Coast.

“We are looking at that because we do believe in the power of the Virgin America brand and we don’t want to lose all that loyalty and revenue that exists today,” Tilden said at the end of a speech at The Wings Club. As plans for the merger were announced last month, there were some concerns on what it might be lost from both carriers.

Although there is not a final decision made yet, Tilden remarked that there is a precedent for this and some European carriers. In the case of the mergers in the United States, especially from the last decade, the acquired company lost its brand.

According to The Seattle Times, Alaska enjoys a strong support in its hometown, while Virgin America is well positioned as well, particularly in Silicon Valley, “with its funky mood lighting, in-flight internet and individual TVs at each seat. Passengers can order meals or drinks from the screens and can even send a drink to another passenger.”

Report: Alaska Airlines Considering to Keep Virgin America Brand Name After Merger

Virgin America to Acquire 10 Airbus A321neos

By Roberto Leiro


Virgin America has announced today the lease from GECAS of 10 Airbus A321neo, slated for delivery in the first quarter of 2017 and up to the third quarter of 2018.

“As Virgin America continues to grow its network, there’s no question the Airbus A321neo is the right aircraft for us, and we were pleased to work with GECAS to make today possible,” said Virgin America President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Cush. With this planned delivery schedule, Virgin America is expected to become the first American carrier to operate this new generation of single-aisle aircraft, to be powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines.

The arrival of the A321neo will allow Virgin America to increase its seats offered and lower its unit costs in Hawaii high-demand routes, as well as in slot-constrained airports such as New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“Not only will these aircraft allow us to further reduce our unit costs and improve our revenue position, they demonstrate our continued commitment to reducing carbon emissions and creating an even more sustainable airline” Cush said.

The aircraft will be configured for Virgin America to include 185 total seats, roughly 24 percent more seating capacity than the airline’s existing fleet of 47 A320 aircraft in service, and 36 percent more in the case of its A319s. In 2016, the carrier expects to grow its fleet by 10 percent, by adding six additional A320ceos, taking the fleet size to 63 aircraft, just before the arrival of the A321neos. According to the airline, operating a single fleet type allows the carrier to avoid operational costs and complexity inherent to maintaining different fleet types.

As of last November, Airbus has logged 4,443 A320neo orders. Deliveries are expected to start before Christmas to launch customer Lufthansa, which has swapped places with Qatar Airways to be the first airline in the world operate an A320neo. Indian LCC IndiGo is slated to be next. Spirit Airlines will be the first U.S. carrier to receive the A320neo in the first quarter of 2016.

Virgin America to Acquire 10 Airbus A321neos