Virgin America cleared for take-off, CEO forced to resign
We'd heard rumblings that Virgin America was indeed lobbying for the US Department of Transportation's blessing to take off from American soil, and after getting a hands-on experience that was second to none, we couldn't help but hope for things to work out. Sure enough, VA has now been given the almighty thumbs-up to operate in the United States. Interestingly, the final approval was only granted after "several additional conditions" were finally agreed to, one of which will leave the current CEO sans a job. Unfortunately for Mr. Fred Reid, "US law restricts foreign ownership in airlines to 25-percent of voting stock," and apparently, the DOT didn't take too kindly to Reid's "longstanding association with foreign investors," most notably Virgin Group's Richard Branson. Nevertheless, the current head man will stay on board for another six months, and while a replacement has yet to be named, the airline hopes to get its birds in the air sometime this summer. Initially, flights will travel from its home base (SFO) to New York (JFK), and while there's no definite timetable as to when routes will be expanded to hit other US cities, feel free to click through for the full lineup of locales that VA hopes to be servicing sooner rather than later.
Read - Virgin America cleared for take-off
Read - Fred Reid forced to resign as VA takes flight
Virgin America's projected service city list:
- Within one year:
Los Angeles
Washington/Dulles
San Diego
Las Vegas
- Within five years:
Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Myers
Hartford
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
Newark
New Orleans
Orlando
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Providence
Portland, Ore.
Raleigh-Durham
Sacramento
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Jose, Calif.
Sarasota
Seattle
St. Louis
Tampa
West Palm Beach
