| |
Featured
Article
 Virgin
America’s First Day
Michael from San Francisco August 2007
I realized in mid-July that I needed to fly from my home
in San Francisco to the Los Angeles area around August
8, the date Virgin America planned to begin operations.
After I heard the VA spokeswoman on Travel Hub Radio,
how could I not take the opportunity to fly an exciting
new airline on its first day?
I’m kind of a travel snob, so I had to check out the
first class seating, even though it was only going to be
a one-hour trip each way. The ticket was $318
round-trip, booked into first. I have paid that much
once or twice for coach on the big carriers when I had
to travel at the last minute.
I arrived at SFO about 3 hours before departure.
Check-in was pleasant although the agent had to figure
out how to check my bag. Apparently when I started
online check-in it had marked me as checked-in even
though I hit cancel before getting to the boarding pass
step. After a few minutes, I was on my way with a shiny
red boarding pass. Security wasn’t too bad so I made it
to the gate in time for most of the pre-launch party.
They had red balloons everywhere, including some
spelling out VA. I could hear San Francisco Mayor Gavin
Newsom, CEO Fred Reid and Sir Richard Branson speak. I
was too late to get a good view of the speeches, but I
admit it was pretty exciting. However, I found this
YouTube video from that first day in SF, shot
by a passenger sitting one row in front of me. We both
post on
Fly
Talk The video includes some of the speeches, views
from the airport and inside the plane.
After the speeches, I had a bit of a sandwich and some
coffee. I didn’t take a cupcake, but they looked
tempting. Then, I did some work on my laptop until it
was time to board for LA. The NY flight departed before
the LA flight, and a Virgin Atlantic flight to London
was also preparing to depart nearby.
At boarding, they handed out headsets and a goodie bag
in honor of the first day of flying. I made my way down
the jet bridge to my seat in row 2.
The planes definitely do have mood lighting. I think the
“W” Hotel is a good comparison. The purple and pink
lighting is softer than the typical fluorescent bulbs
most airlines used. The first class seats are very
nice—tons of leg room, and lots of ways to fine tune the
recline angle, leg rest, etc. The massage is a rolling
lumbar support. It was OK, but not great.
After takeoff, they actually served an appetizer box in
first class. It included a melon wrapped in prosciutto,
a caprese with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella, and very
tasty chocolate mousse. This was much nicer than peanuts
or pretzels.
I played a little with the entertainment system. They
have a Google flight map, which could distract me for
hours on a long flight. :-) I also put a few songs that
I didn’t have on my iPod into a playlist. The sound
quality is much better than a typical airplane. It was
soon time for an uneventful landing in LA.
The return flight to SF on the 13th was similar. We had
some delays because the aircraft arrived late. It still
seemed a little like people were trying to figure out
how to do things, but there was no lack of effort. One
of the flight attendants from the first flight was
working on my return and he remembered me, which was
nice. VA uses the international terminal in San
Francisco, which is the newest terminal. However, at
LAX, they use terminal 6, which is very dated. For
example, I had a hard time finding a plug for my laptop.
The thing which stood out to me was that the employees
were in a good mood, and there was an emphasis on being
courteous and helpful. The announcements included the
phrase “don’t hesitate to ask for help, that’s what we
are here for.” The major airlines have done so much
damage to their worker morale that I have come to expect
very little these days. Virgin America was a very
welcome change.
If VA can keep up the good attitude, I think they will
earn my business. I felt excited after both flights,
rather than tired and relieved to be off the plane. I
fly to both LA and NYC from time to time. |
|
|
Click here
to listen to our interview with Virgin America
Spokesperson Abby Lunardini |
