Virgin America eyes, ORD,ATL,IAH,PHL for new service

[Grandpa +65]

Virgin America eyes Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia for new service

By Roger Yu, USA TODAY

Virgin America, the low-fare airline, plans to add flights to Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Philadelphia next year if it can secure gates in those cities, according to Bloomberg.
Virgin America wants to lease two gates at O'Hare, and discussions with airport officials may be resolved by year's end, David Cush, CEO of Virgin America, told Bloomberg.
"If we can make progress in the next 60 days, I think you'll see Virgin America in Chicago in April," Cush said.
The carrier, based in Burlingame, Calif., posted the first net income in its three-year history, the report says. It earned $7.48 million for the most recent quarter ended Sept. 30 vs. a net loss of $5.94 million a year ago. Revenue rose 28% to $202 million.
It plans to buy 40 more planes to add to its current fleet of 28.

Posted Nov 9 2010 9:05AM

 

[Grandpa +65]

Good Work Guys

 

[LoveGun]

Here is my favorite quote from David Cush, Virgin America CEO, regarding negotiations with the city of Chicago regarding ORD gates:

“They’ve made significant progress,” Mr. Cush says. “They seem to be serious about creating opportunities for additional service.”
However, Mr. Cush says he wants the city to renovate, too.
“The big issue is that terminal is not up to standards,” he says. “It’s been under-maintained and underused. We’re hoping the city can bring it up to standards. We could do it, but they’re city controlled, and the city should allocate the capital to bring them up to standards.”

He's saying, "We want the city to give us a great deal on gates and we also want the city to fix them up for us"

That's pretty bold from a guy who's CEO of an airline with only 28 airplanes.

 

[flyboyzii]

Here is my favorite quote from David Cush, Virgin America CEO, regarding negotiations with the city of Chicago regarding ORD gates:

“They’ve made significant progress,” Mr. Cush says. “They seem to be serious about creating opportunities for additional service.”
However, Mr. Cush says he wants the city to renovate, too.
“The big issue is that terminal is not up to standards,” he says. “It’s been under-maintained and underused. We’re hoping the city can bring it up to standards. We could do it, but they’re city controlled, and the city should allocate the capital to bring them up to standards.”

He's saying, "We want the city to give us a great deal on gates and we also want the city to fix them up for us"

That's pretty bold from a guy who's CEO of an airline with only 28 airplanes.

They didn't get to where they are today in three years by being timid

 

[tzskipper]

They didn't get to where they are today in three years by being timid

Yep, the next 22 aircraft coming (beyond the 28 mentioned) are already financed (6 of the 22 to be on line by the end of this year, with one a month after that...), seems to have been overlooked. Not to mention the MOU for the additional 40 aircraft along with 20 options. All said, pretty much up to 110 aircraft on line by the end of 2016.

 

[boomlrd]

Man, I wish you guys would call some of us typed and current Spirit A-320 guys. A lot would bolt from Spirit for that kind of opportunity.

 

[hyflyin]

Man, I wish you guys would call some of us typed and current Spirit A-320 guys. A lot would bolt from Spirit for that kind of opportunity.

We wish we would too!

 

[Jetjockey]

I've been eying a Ferrari 308 since I'm 19......still don't own one.

 

[n757st]

Yep, the next 22 aircraft coming (beyond the 28 mentioned) are already financed (6 of the 22 to be on line by the end of this year, with one a month after that...), seems to have been overlooked. Not to mention the MOU for the additional 40 aircraft along with 20 options. All said, pretty much up to 110 aircraft on line by the end of 2016.

If you can expand 4x your size in the next 5 years, good on you. The problem is expanding your infrastructure to cope with that size operation while still maintaining profit, and finding places to fly those planes. Without expanding the infrastructure VA's valentines day massacre will be a matter of when, not if.

 

[tzskipper]

If you can expand 4x your size in the next 5 years, good on you. The problem is expanding your infrastructure to cope with that size operation while still maintaining profit, and finding places to fly those planes. Without expanding the infrastructure VA's valentines day massacre will be a matter of when, not if.

Fwiw, it is my understanding that the infrastructure is already capable of managing an airline twice the size VA is now. So far, a little ahead of the curve....