courtesy: Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines, which recently added 13 new flights from San Francisco and the Bay area and touted them as Alaska and Virgin America flights, has decided to retire the Virgin America brand name.
“After careful consideration, the combined company will adopt Alaska’s name and logo, retiring the Virgin America name likely sometime in 2019,” the airline said in a statement.
Virgin America’s trademark people-pleasing perks like in-flight entertainment, mood lighting and a “warm and welcoming West-Coast-inspired vibe” will remain, the airline assures flyers.
Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson was less than enthusiastic on the Virgin.com website where he wrote that with fewer airline choices in the US it “remains to be seen” what this move means for consumers.
Airfarewatchdog.com founder, George Hobica says consumers can rest easy.
” Personally I never understood the Virgin America brand,” Hobica told TravelWithVal.com.” Seemed like a lot of surface glitz with little depth, and the service wasn’t consistent; for example their first class product was way behind what United, Delta and American offer on trans-continental flights.
” Alaska is a much better, more consistent brand with better ground and inflight service, without the glam but with more heart and soul. So I’m not sad to see Virgin go.”
