Virgin America, a new regional low fare airline in the US, has been given approval by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin operations.
”We are absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to serve San Francisco, the Bay Area, California, and the American public,” said Virgin America CEO, Fred Reid (pictured below).
”I applaud the DOT for approving our application and fulfilling its long-standing commitment to competition and new choices for travellers.” Mr Reid, however, will step down as CEO six months after the airline”s certification as a requirement of the DOT.
The DOT wanted Mr Reid to resign before approval as it claims he is too close to Virgin Atlantic, although Virgin was adamant that, as an American citizen with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines on his CV, he was a perfectly acceptable front man for the new carrier.
In its final order, the DOT found that the company fully complied with all requests regarding fitness, US citizenship requirements and control. The DOT also acknowledged that this final approval had been contingent upon the company's acceptance of several additional conditions that were made public in March, when the DOT tentatively approved Virgin America”s application.
Speaking recently in Chicago, Virgin Group chairman, Sir Richard Branson, made it clear that his interest in the airline was only that of a minor shareholder: ”Virgin America is entirely run by Americans for Americans. I have nothing to add.”
Mr Reid said: ”This has been quite a journey but I”m truly happy that we will be able to launch our airline. I plan to spend every minute of my time between now and then supporting my 200-plus talented team-mates in that endeavour. When I said that this was never about one person, I meant it. Virgin America has a wonderful team who will take this airline to great heights, bringing exciting innovation and competition.”
Now that the company has been formally approved, the next step will be to seek a waiver to start selling tickets. The company is planning a mid-summer launch.
Virgin America”s first flights will be between its home base of San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK). The airline also plans to serve Los Angeles International, Washington/Dulles, San Diego and Las Vegas within its first year of operations.