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http://www.sfexaminer.com/article/index.cfm/i/070204n_virgin
Help wanted
Virgin America set to hire 1,600.
By Justin Nyberg | Staff Writer
Published on Friday, July 2, 2004
URL: http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/070204n_virgin
E-mail this story | This page is printer-friendly
S.F. AIRPORT -- As early as January, Virgin America will begin hiring the 1,600 people it needs to launch its Bay Area-based low-cost airline, according to company head Fred Reid.
"The want ads will be all over the place," Reid joked, as reporters peppered him with questions for more than an hour at a press conference Thursday.
The company is keeping quiet about exactly how many mechanics, pilots, flight attendants and office workers that will translate to, but even without specifics, it is good news for the estimated 5,000 airline and airport employees laid off at SFO during industry downsizing over the last three years.
"This is a significant tipping point in San Francisco and the industry," said Mayor Gavin Newsom.
It's also good news for the cities around the airport, where workers will shop, dine and generate sales-tax dollars. Lee Blitch, president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, estimated the airline would generate $153 million per year for the local economy and create 2,600 indirect jobs.
If all goes according to plan, the airline will launch its first flights in mid-2005.
Virgin America, formerly known as Virgin USA, selected SFO and San Mateo County as its headquarters on June 4 after exploring other cities and negotiating incentives packages.
The company, which now has less than two dozen employees, will hire roughly 3,000 people by the time it completes its first phase of development around 2007. About 1,600 will staff its operations center, emergency-control center and local maintenance center at and around SFO.
Reid said the company chose to fly out of SFO instead of Oakland International Airport, host to low-cost giants Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines, in spite of the higher landing fees here, because it had the right image for the Virgin brand and because of the "revenue potential."
"It's not a matter of dollars and cents," Reid said. "We chose SFO because the Virgin brand applies to a very, very broad spectrum."
Help wanted
Virgin America set to hire 1,600.
By Justin Nyberg | Staff Writer
Published on Friday, July 2, 2004
URL: http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/070204n_virgin
E-mail this story | This page is printer-friendly
S.F. AIRPORT -- As early as January, Virgin America will begin hiring the 1,600 people it needs to launch its Bay Area-based low-cost airline, according to company head Fred Reid.
"The want ads will be all over the place," Reid joked, as reporters peppered him with questions for more than an hour at a press conference Thursday.
The company is keeping quiet about exactly how many mechanics, pilots, flight attendants and office workers that will translate to, but even without specifics, it is good news for the estimated 5,000 airline and airport employees laid off at SFO during industry downsizing over the last three years.
"This is a significant tipping point in San Francisco and the industry," said Mayor Gavin Newsom.
It's also good news for the cities around the airport, where workers will shop, dine and generate sales-tax dollars. Lee Blitch, president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, estimated the airline would generate $153 million per year for the local economy and create 2,600 indirect jobs.
If all goes according to plan, the airline will launch its first flights in mid-2005.
Virgin America, formerly known as Virgin USA, selected SFO and San Mateo County as its headquarters on June 4 after exploring other cities and negotiating incentives packages.
The company, which now has less than two dozen employees, will hire roughly 3,000 people by the time it completes its first phase of development around 2007. About 1,600 will staff its operations center, emergency-control center and local maintenance center at and around SFO.
Reid said the company chose to fly out of SFO instead of Oakland International Airport, host to low-cost giants Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines, in spite of the higher landing fees here, because it had the right image for the Virgin brand and because of the "revenue potential."
"It's not a matter of dollars and cents," Reid said. "We chose SFO because the Virgin brand applies to a very, very broad spectrum."
