Alaska Airlines drops Virgin America brand, business class seats
By David Flynn, March 23 2017
Alaska Airlines will axe the Virgin American brand and with it, Virgin's white leather business class seats – which are referred to as 'first class' in US parlance.
In their place will go Alaska's new and decidedly conventional business class seats, with subdued light blue mood lighting replacing Virgin's vivid purple colour scheme.
The Virgin American brand will disappear by 2019 in a phased merger of the Alaska and Virgin fleets, Alaska Airlines execs tell TravelSkills blogger Chris McGinnis.
It's perhaps the final shoe to drop following Alaska's US$2.6 billion (A$3.4bn) takeover of the Branson-backed US venture in December 2016.
The eight white leather 'first class' recliners on Virgin's Airbus A319 and A320 jets will be replaced by 12 of Alaska's new premium seats, although this will see the pitch (or distance between the seats) slashed from 55 inches to 41 inches.
Is there an upside to the 'more seats, less legroom' scenario? Alaska promises to be more generous with upgrades for its top-tier frequent flyers.
"With 50 percent more premium seats being introduced to the Airbus fleet, elite loyalty members will enjoy the most generous complimentary upgrades in the industry," says Sangita Woerner, Alaska Airlines' VP of marketing, adding that complimentary upgrades to first class on the former Virgin fleet will debut "in late 2019".
Virgin’s 12 Main Cabin Select premium economy seats (below) are also for the axe, with Alaska dropping in 18 of its Premium Class seats – with another reduction in legroom, down from 38 inches to 35 inches.
High-speed satellite Internet is also on the cards, beginning with Alaska's own Boeing 737s from late 2018 with Virgin's Airbus fleet to follow, until all the jets are wired – or rather, unwired – by the end of 2019.
Alaska Airlines is also talking up new lounges at San Francisco Terminal 2, where we'll see a rooftop space possibly with an outdoor deck, as well as New York's JFK airport, plus a refresh and expansion of existing lounges at Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles.
Read more: Alaska Airlines reveals fate of Virgin America
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Turkish Airlines - Miles & Smiles
08 Jun 2014
Total posts 262
Never tried the First Class white seats but have the premium with VAmerica... great experience and woukd recommend VAmerica any time (in economy) now I'm more series so will try Delta cross country. Does AusBT know if Velocity members can still earn points with Alaska?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Jul 2012
Total posts 118
Not at the moment.
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 1205
The disappearance of VX from American skies is sad. They were a breath of fresh air amidst what is a pretty dreary experience with all of the other US domestic carriers probably excluding Jet Blue. VX had a hip brand, an innovative product and an engaged workforce. Compared with the "prison warden"flight attendants and mad overhead locker crush experienced on other US domestics, VX was a revelation.
Turkish Airlines - Miles & Smiles
08 Jun 2014
Total posts 262
VX!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
20 Jan 2016
Total posts 59
Great airline, really sad to see it go. Wife and I were stuck in Vegas a few years back unable to get to New York because of the winter storms.
30 Jul 2015
Total posts 135
Bye Bye virgin America.
06 Feb 2014
Total posts 113
Problem in a thin margin business is the Virgin Group charges big licencing fees to use their brand and this is a cost that really isn't needed once you have established scale. For a non profitable Virgin Australia you really wonder if it's value for money???
26 Jul 2015
Total posts 77
Well, won't be flying them again.
15 Feb 2013
Total posts 163
I used to love VX until one day when an arrogant little **** refused me access to the lounge in LAX as a Platinum VA member and refused to accept evidence I showed him from the website. Their onboard service was also great the first few years, but eventually dropped significantly and ended up the same as other carriers. I'll take instant upgrade fares on AA now and get a good SC:$ ratio rather than fly Alaska.
AA
14 Aug 2013
Total posts 28
probably should correct the text. the brand being jettisoned is Virgin America, not Virgin American.
VX is by far the best domestic US carrier from a passenger experience perspective. accessible pricing of Select and First seats has been a competitive hallmark.
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