Sorry to disappoint you all, but Richard Branson does not own Virgin America. He is an investor, and owns the brand, but is not the "owner", or even a majority shareholder. The multiple investigations by the DOT and lawsuits filed other airlines have pretty well cleared that up. If a handful of Branson's other companies are struggling, that does not mean it is tied to Virgin America. I mean what on earth does the failure of a soft drink company in Europe have to do with an airline in the USA other than sharing a logo?
As for making money, last financial report available shows Virgin America made money in the 3rd quarter, in fact significantly more money than the "experts" predicted they would make. The predictions were at best small operating profit but an overall net loss. The results were a significant operating profit (for an airline with 28 aircraft at the time) and an overall net profit as well.
Virgin increased its cash position in the third quarter and has over $100 million in total liquidity.
The original business plan did not call for a profitable quarter until over 40 aircraft were on property, the company beat that.
I have been around several failing airlines and I can tell you with absolute certainty that failing companies do not announce orders for new aircraft, announce new cities, ramp up hiring, expand headquarters, and sign contracts on new training facilities. Virgin America has done all of these in the past six months. Failing companies start pulling out of cities, deferring deliveries, postponing classes, consolidating office space, and cutting corners wherever possible. Those are clearly not the actions of Virgin America.
As for the mood of the investors, how many of you have had conversations with the Virgin America investors lately? They are a privately held company and I would wager very few, if anyone at all, on this board even know the names of the major investors, let alone know them well enough to have conversations about their feelings on their investment in the company.