DOT Rejects Blanket Dormancy Waiver
The DOT has decided to deny the request by seven airlines to allow them to suspend international routes without losing the rights. This could get interesting.

Ramping Up Alternative Propulsion Systems
With fuel prices climbing, engine manufacturers are looking for new ways to reduce fuel burn. At least one concept is almost ready to fly.

Virgin America Appeals DOT Decision with a Vengeance
Unhappy with the DOT’s decision to require public submission of Virgin America’s data, the airline has decided to appeal with fists flying.

Allegiant Leaves Green Bay for Appleton
Allegiant really does practice what it preaches. Green Bay started charging more, so Allegiant packed up and moved 33 miles down the road to Appleton.

The Airlines Attack Oil Speculators
The ATA has gathered US airlines to fight oil speculation. Will it help or just end up making things worse?

I received an email from a subscriber yesterday asking why she couldn’t book premium seats on Virgin America for her trip in October. (Premium seats are defined as the bulkhead and exit row in coach, and they’re currently sold for a few bucks extra.) Apparently, the seats are all blocked in the system and reservations agents were telling her that they were in the middle of making some changes. Needless to say, this had me intrigued, so I sent a note over to the airline’s spokesperson Abby Lunardini and received the following response.

We’re currently evaluating a restructure of our main cabin seating selection, so in the interim we are holding select seats and guests will be unable to buy seats in the affected areas for travel past October 1.

We will announce the new offering later this month at NBTA [National Business Travel Association Convention the last week in July] and the affected seats will open up for sale in mid-September for October travel (travel dates prior to October 1 should be as normal right now and open for booking). We apologize for the inconvenience to guests, but hope they will be patient and appreciate the improved offering we will soon announce.

Very interesting. Let the speculation begin. Why would you block off these seats until the middle of September?

I can think of a couple reasons. The one that I find most interesting is that the airline is finally planning on defining their frequent flier program. You may not have noticed, but while you can earn frequent flier miles on the airline, you can’t actually redeem them for anything. They also haven’t told people how much will be necessary to redeem for free flights. Helpful, right?

Well, NBTA would be the place to define your frequent flier program, because the attendees are the ones who will be earning the most miles. This makes me wonder if there will be some sort of elite program where seats are blocked for the best customers. This would be a very interesting development, and it’s one that no low cost carrier has taken on before. I think this would actually be a very smart move on their part.

Of course, there are other possible reasons. Maybe they’re looking at adding more first class seats, so they’re blocking these off since they may disappear when the plane is reconfigured. That would actually be another good move on their part.

Or there’s always the more boring reason. Maybe they’re having technical problems they need to work out. (That wouldn’t be surprising at all.)

All kinds of interesting possibilities, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see the real story at the end of July.

Virgin America has been pretty quiet lately. I mean, except for the Superfly Wednesday gimmick, not much has happened except for some frequency increases. Yesterday, however, the airline revealed its twin doses of dumbness, as I like to call them.First, the airline will start flying from New York/JFK to Las Vegas. And second, the airline is adding a fuel surcharge.

Let’s start with the Vegas flight that begins on my birthday, September 4. Westbound flights will operate every day but Wednesday and Thursday while eastbound flights won’t operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Here’s the schedule:

VX251 Lv JFK 905a Arr Vegas 1145a
VX206 Lv Vegas 215p Arr JFK 1025p

As you can see, this is no utilization flight. This takes a full aircraft day, so it’s targeting the business traveler. While the times may be ok for that purpose, taking two days off in the middle of the week is certainly not going to help them very much. As a business traveler, I’d rather fly one of the THREE other airlines (Delta, US Airways, JetBlue) that fly in the market multiple times daily so that I could at least have more options. And don’t forget, American also flies this once daily. Don’t even get me started on Newark. Yes, it’s a crowded market.

And since this is JFK, they only have a certain number of slots. Yep, that means something had to be cut elsewhere. One of the five daily SFO flights, the one that operates at the same time as this, will disappear that day (it currently shows “sold out” on the Virgin America site). So, they’re cutting frequency in that market and shifting it five days a week to Vegas? What about those other two days? Strange.

Now how about those fuel surcharges? In most markets, Virgin America has been the most aggressive pricer out there with sale after sale and low structure fares as well. So, how is it that they feel the need to add a surcharge? Why not just raise fares? It doesn’t really make sense to me, especially for an airline like Virgin America. Having a fuel surcharge isn’t hip. Raising fares, however, now that’s what the cool kids are doing.

You guys know I can be pretty harsh on Virgin America, but I have to say, I really like their latest promotion. I received it last night not only from Virgin, but also from two other people before the original had even landed in my inbox. That tells me it’s got some buzzworthiness to it.

What’s the deal? Wednesday night is Superfly party night. Seriously. The airline is calling it an online happy hour in the sky with two free drinks per person, and even some after hours partying once you arrive. The airline has designated four flights on each of the next five Wednesdays as follows:

VX 313 JFK-LAX leaving at 505p
VX 1839 SFO-LAX leaving at 6p
VX 1777 SFO-LAS leaving at 715p
VX 1852 LAX-SFO leaving at 355p

If you’re onboard, you’ll get free drinks, they’re encouraging use of chat rooms in their inflight entertainment system, and once you land, your boarding pass will get you in to some local hotspots.

So why do I like this? Well, Wednesdays are typically slow days, so might as well try to convince some twenty-somethings to hop on board and have a good time. It also does a good job of setting the vibe of the airline. Most importantly, the uniqueness of the promo makes it buzzworthy. It won’t generate a ton of money, but it will get publicity. It also doesn’t cost them much, and that’s important. Nice work.

And now, on an unrelated note. I received a lot of feedback that you liked Benet’s guest post while I was gone. She’s told me that she’ll have her latest version of “Strange but True Airport News” up on Towers and Tarmacs this afternoon. So head on over if you’re interested.

Hey everyone. I made it back from Peru yesterday morning, and let’s just say it’s going to be a VERY busy end to the week. I hope you enjoyed the guest posts while I was gone, and hopefully we’ll get both Henry and Benet to return at some point in the near future. I think I’m going to spend the rest of this week catching up on snippets of what happened while I was gone. You’ll see more in depth discussion about my trip which included new airlines, airports, and airplanes, starting on Monday. For now, let’s see what I missed while I was away.

Continental Tells United to F*&# Off - This was a welcome surprise, I must say. Continental decided that it won’t be merging with United or anyone else for that matter. That left United to go lick its wounds and see if US Airways would come out and play. Meanwhile, Continental, not exactly thrilled at the prospect of playing second fiddle to DL/NW in SkyTeam has started looking elsewhere as well, including a possible oneworld membership.

Eos Won’t See Another Dawn - Just before I left, Eos quietly disappeared from the skies. This one is a little bittersweet for me, because I actually worked with the founder back in 2003 as he was just getting this idea off the ground. I always believed in the idea, but it was going to be tough to succeed even with fuel prices at lower levels. With fuel where it is, the only funding available appears to have been from foreign sources and that wouldn’t have worked with existing foreign ownership rules.

Virgin America Pumps Up the Frequency - You know I’ve been strongly against Virgin America’s strategy of entering highly competitive markets with low frequencies. Well it looks like the airline has finally realized that’s a bad idea. Business travelers will see a more frequent flight schedule on transcontinental routes as well as Seattle to SFO. While I still think these are bound to lose a ton of money with fuel where it is, it’s still the right strategy (except for that SFO-SEA route), if there is such a thing for them at this point.

JetBlue Goes Ex-LAX - While Virgin America builds up, JetBlue walks away. The airline now says it will “delay” its new LAX service. The airline says fuel is too expensive, but you know that also means revenue isn’t where they wanted it to be. It must have been really bad to cancel this service within a few weeks of it starting. This is of course good for Virgin America, but it also shows how hard this market is. Congrats to JetBlue for not being afraid to walk away.

Alaska Throws Down with Virgin America - Alaska, meanwhile, is not going to throw Virgin America a bone at all. Right after Virgin said it would beef up flights between SFO and Seattle, Alaska said it would do the same. Oh, and how about some double miles on the route? This looks like a losing battle for Virgin America, but Alaska’s going to bleed in the process.

Southwest Turns the Knife Further - Fresh off the latest round of Denver increases, Southwest is at it again. On August 4, the airline will start nonstops to Ft Lauderdale, New Orleans, and Sacramento. You’ll also find another daily nonstop to Phoenix. The good news for Frontier? Um, well, they don’t fly to New Orleans, so, uh, that’s good, right? Also, in unrelated Southwest news. If you haven’t seen Southwest’s new blog setup, check it out. The airline continues to be leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else.

That’s all for today. You can expect an international edition of what I missed tomorrow. Then I’ll have more on Peru next week.

Back in early March, I decided it was time to fly Virgin America. Now you know that I’ve been critical of the airline, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to give them a try. So when I saw that fares up to San Francisco were running less than the price of a barrel of oil ($109 roundtrip each) for a planned trip up north, my fiancee and I decided to give them a shot. So what did I think? It was good. Regardless of whether I think there’s a place for them in the world or not, there’s no denying that it was a nice experience for the most part, but not entirely.

Unfortunately, the whole thing started off very poorly. On Thursday evening, I received this email:

Due to delays in the modification of our new planes, the inflight entertainment and select other in-seat services will not be available on your upcoming Virgin America flight. This includes the Red Inflight Entertainment system, which normally features satellite TV, movies, games, Google Maps and a food ordering system. In addition, the plugs at every seat for electronic gear will not be operational for the flight. Why are we sending you this message? We want you to be prepared to have your laptop or iPod fully charged, and ensure you have the latest magazines or newspapers to read while onboard your flight. We’ll do our best to provide some reading material onboard in case you forget.

Are you friggin’ kidding me?!? Not only are you telling me that it won’t be available, but you’re trying to show off exactly what I’ll be missing by describing it in detail. So not cool.

Even worse, the email didn’t say which flight was affected. It just referred to our confirmation number, and that’s annoying. Of course, I don’t care about all these bells and whistles on a one hour flight, but the point was to check out what they offered. If I didn’t get it on either flight, I was going to be really pissed.

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April 19, 2008
Virgin America #848 Lv Los Angeles (LAX) 840a Arr San Francisco (SFO) 1000a
LAX: Gate 67B, Runway 24L, Dept :12L
SFO: Gate A1B, Runway 28R, Arr :31L
Aircraft: N628VA, Airbus A320-214, White/Red, ~67% Full
Seat: 11A
Flight Time: 1h15m

The drive to the airport was aggravating. No, there wasn’t any traffic on the 405. There were just three separate Virgin America billboards taunting me with the messages like “Everybody needs an outlet.” That is, unless you’re flying one of their dark planes that hasn’t been outfitted yet, I suppose. These guys spend so much on branding, you’d think that they’d at least try to deliver consistently.

Anyway, parking was easy, and the TSA only gave us a small hassle for having our boarding passes on the same sheet of paper. (Kudos to VX for not wasting a ton of paper printing a little boarding pass.) Soon enough we were at our gate.

The gate areas look really nice, and there was a smiling gate agent waiting to greet us. I asked if the flight was full. She looked and excitedly said, “wow, it’s really full today - booked 113 out of 149.” Um, that’s not really full for any other airline but this one.

They called for boarding, and maybe 20 people fell into the first four groups. Then they called our group and most other people got up. Strange. We made our way down the jet bridge and were greeted by the warm purplish glow of a strip club new airplane with mood lighting.

We grabbed our seats right behind the exit rows and found that this flight did, in fact, have everything working as it should. The seats are a nice looking black leather with a hard shell back in white. The white is not a good idea, because though this airplane wasn’t that old, there was a fair number of visible dirt and scratches on each seat back.

Each seat has a little cup holder that comes down from the back of the seat. I love that feature, but this one was flimsy, and one of the ones in our row was already broken off (as you can see in the picture).

After a short catering delay (catering? really?), we taxied around LAX (had to go all the way from Terminal 6 to the north runways), and then we headed up into the marine layer for a nice flight to SFO. The inflight entertainment system seems like it will be pretty nice when it’s built out, but there are a lot of options that are unavailable for now. My biggest complaint about it? It’s very slow to respond to commands. At least, mine was. Then again, everything was slow. The Google Maps display seemed to be a few minutes behind when showing our position, so it was somewhat frustrating. The system also crashed on me twice during the flight. I just had to wait it out until it reset itself and brought up the home screen again.

The flight attendants were all friendly and came through the cabin handing out drinks but nothing else. When I asked for water, they gave me a little bottle. Score! I know it’s not a big thing, but I really like the little water bottle because I can throw it into the seatback pocket and keep it with me through landing.

Speaking of the seat pocket . . . it’s weird. There’s a hard shell of a pocket meant for magazines and papers, etc. Then there’s a mesh pocket that sits outside of that where you can put anything bulkier. Unfortunately, that just takes away some of your legroom, because I didn’t need the hard pocket for anything, so my water bottle stuck out further than it needed to.

The legroom itself was fine for me. It wasn’t anything amazing, but it was better than Economy Minus on United by a good amount. For me, it was a non-issue, but I’m only 5′ 8″ tall.

Soon enough we were descending, but I wasn’t done playing with everything. Fortunately, the captain knew I needed more time and decided to circle around Monterey Bay for awhile. Ok, so maybe ATC made him circle since the winds were starting to back things up, but it was welcome. If you look at the flight path for this trip, you’d think the pilot was drunk. (I’m kidding, I’m kidding.) After circling, for those who know the Bay Area, we came up over Woodside before turning southeast to follow the Bay down toward San Jose. Then we turned around again and lined up for a landing over the Bay on the 28s. It was very strange.

After a fantastic 24 hours in the Bay Area full of lunch at the Elephant Bar in Burlingame, wine tasting, and then a Passover seder with friends (see the picture from their balcony), we turned around to come back home. We didn’t have a chance to print out a boarding pass beforehand, so we got to the airport and went straight to the kiosks.

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April 20, 2008
Virgin America #847 Lv San Francisco (SFO) 125p Arr Los Angeles (LAX) 250p
SFO: Gate A1B, Runway 1L, Dept :03E
LAX: Gate 67A, Runway 24R, Arr :10E
Aircraft: N524VA, Airbus A319-112, White/Red, ~95% Full
Seat: 11F
Flight Time: 1h0m

The check-in area is one place that I think Virgin has done a really nice job. There are tables with flowers and screens on top of them that allow you to check in in a comfortable setting. We swiped a credit card to check in and it worked quickly. The boarding passes printed out one at a time through a small slot in the table. I’ve never seen a boarding pass this size before. It looks kind of like the size of the boarding pass that the gate agent keeps after giving you the stub. Since they just scan the pass, there’s no need for anything bigger. Again, nice way to save paper.

Virgin America flies out of the international terminal at SFO, so I was worried that the midday Asian flights would make for a long line at security. Fortunately, I was wrong, and we were through security quickly. Then we just waited.

It turns out that THIS was the dark plane we had been warned about. The gate agent said that this was the only aircraft that didn’t have the system outfitted and that it would be finished in July. I have to say, for an airline that focuses so much on its image, this is a really stupid move. They just started service to Seattle in the last month. Maybe they should have delayed that for a week so they could fix this plane up.

We boarded the plane and the first thing I noticed is that not only does it lack inflight entertainment, but it also has no bulkheads. What a strange sight to see an open galley with the row 1 passengers looking right at them. I asked a flight attendant about the plane, and he said that they isolate this to flying short haul routes along the west coast. If that’s true, it makes it better, but it’s still really inexcusable for these guys.

Before we pushed back, the pilot came out and grabbed the mike for a short chat on the PA system. He apologized for the inflight entertainment system being out and then proceeded to tell us about the flight. It was a very nice touch. I just wish I could have heard him better over the screaming college kids behind me.

We took off and turned southeast for the short trip back home. It was a very hazy day all over California, so I couldn’t see much. Without inflight entertainment, I had no idea what to do. Oh wait, yes I did. I read a magazine.

After the flight attendants handed out a granola bar and drinks, I decided to check out the lav. There was nothing special to see there except for a sticker advertising Method soap onboard.

It was only a few minutes before we started descending. Once we dropped down into the haze layer, we bounced, dipped, dropped, and porpoised our way into LAX. It was actually bouncy enough that I found myself getting nauseous and that’s a rare event on a plane.

Once on the ground, we taxied back to the terminal, and I asked the captain if we had been behind a heavy jet creating some wake. He said with a friendly smile that no, it was just rough air and he was kind of surprised himself. Oh well, no big deal. We grabbed our car and went home.

As I mentioned above, it was a very nice experience. The flight attendants were all very good, friendly, and attentive. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly them again, but I’m not sure I’d go out of my way either.

It appears that Virgin America is getting desperate. Repeat after me . . . MUST-RAISE-CASH.

A friend forwarded me an email that was apparently sent to at least some of Virgin America’s eleVAte frequent flier program members. I’m not sure how many people got it, but this friend has flown them a few times so he isn’t exactly in need of being convinced to fly them further. It is an EXTREMELY generous offer that is not exactly what you’d want to be doing in this cost environment. Here it is.

As an eleVAte Member, you’re entitled to exciting travel privileges, like the opportunity to fly free once in a while.

So we’re extending a special offer to just a few, special eleVAte Members - that would be you.

When you fly two paid roundtrips on Virgin America, we’ll give you a free roundtrip ticket* valid for travel through June 1, 2008.

It’s simple. Book and fly your two paid roundtrips between March 5 and May 4, 2008. After you complete your second paid roundtrip, we’ll automatically send you an email with everything you need to claim your free trip.

Grab a seat at virginamerica.com and you’ll be on your way to a free trip before you know it.

San Francisco : Las Vegas : Los Angeles : New York : San Diego : Seattle : Washington, DC

I read through the terms and conditions, and there don’t appear to be too many restrictions. It looks like two quick trips from LAX to SFO and you’ll have a freebie you could use to get to the east coast. No fare restrictions, just make sure you’re in coach. Now that’s a steal.

Did anyone else get this? Are there any eleVAte members out there who didn’t receive it? I wonder how widespread this is.

In case you’re curious, here’s all the mice-type that was in the email.

* To qualify for the promo code for one (1) roundtrip ticket, eleVAte members receiving this FLY2GET1 offer must book and complete four (4) one-way trips (or two (2) round-trips) on Virgin America between March 5, 2008 and May 4, 2008. Promo Code is valid for travel in the Main Cabin; the applicable travel must be completed between March 15, 2008 and June 1, 2008. If travel is changed to a date outside of this window or if itinerary is modified outside of the promo period, promo code discount will become inapplicable, and the guest will be responsible for a $40 change fee and any increase in air fare. Promo code may be used only towards newly-booked travel and may not be applied to prior bookings. Using the promo code will deduct 100% of base fare; the guest will still be responsible for Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9 each way, September 11th Security Fees of up to $5 each way and a Federal Segment Tax of $3.50 per domestic segment. A segment is a takeoff and landing. Promo code may not be redeemed for cash and may not be used towards premium seats (such as exit row seats) or upgrades. Seats are limited, subject to availability, and may not be available on all flights. The start dates for certain non-stop service are as follows: San Francisco (SFO) - Seattle (SEA) on March 18, 2008 and Los Angeles (LAX) - Seattle (SEA) on April 8, 2008. Only one (1) promo code may be used per eleVAte member in connection with this FLY2GET1 offer, even if the member books and completes more than four (4) trips during the qualifying period. If the person booking the four (4) qualifying trips is different from the person actually flying those trips, promo code will be awarded to the person who actually flies those trips. Promo code may only be used for booking via virginamerica.com.

I don’t like that this is being sent to eleVAte members. You’d think these would be the people who are most likely to be flying the airline already, and this is a very rich offer. Maybe they should start actually defining redemption values for eleVAte members instead of focusing on these offers. That’s right, I haven’t seen anything saying how many flights you need for a free trip in the program. Has anyone else?

This is just one of several cash grabs going on. They’ve had a couple rapid-fire sales lately including one going on right now. You can see where they’re weakest. In coach, everything is cheap. Previous sales have had a premium in JFK over DC, but that’s not the case in this one. Dulles appears to have climbed a little in price. The only strength is in the first class cabin, except for San Diego and Seattle where there are sale fares. Still, with such a small first class cabin, I don’t think that’s going to help them too much.

We’re at around $108 for a barrel of oil and counting. They’ve got to figure something out quickly. Oh, but they aren’t the only ones. ExpressJet announced a big loss this past quarter and for the full year. Those 50 seaters aren’t cheap to run and they’re getting more expensive as oil goes up. They’re going to be feeling more pressure to get out of the branded flying business as this goes on. Consolidation may not be necessary . . . just wait for oil prices to drive airlines out instead.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard about any new routes from Virgin America, so when I saw a press release saying that they were applying to fly from LA to Cabo, I felt compelled to write.

Cabo?!? Are they really that desperate to find a place to fly?

This is the second time they’ve jumped in on a route after Frontier has abandoned it. The first was LAX-SFO, and that one hasn’t fared too well so far. At least, that’s the case through the DOT’s recently released November data. The airline only filled 58.7% of seats on that route that month. (Other markets don’t look so good either - the best is LAX-JFK with 68.7%, and JetBlue will be starting that soon.) And this isn’t just historical. I’m assuming that trend is continuing because I’ve seen a lot of cheap fare sales coming out of the airline lately.

So, we’ve seen them shift away from their original transcon idea more toward the short hauls, and now they’re going international. It seems to me they’re just throwing ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks, because this doesn’t seem to be a very cohesive plan.

Why would an airline that has shown interest in serving major business markets all around the US decide to go to an already over-served, leisure-oriented Cabo market? Have they run out of good options in the US already? This does not make sense. They’re flying to a short-haul vacation market that has the added complexity of being international. That means you need to arrange for customs and immigration, and you have to hope that your homegrown IT system can handle international travel. Oh, and those low fares? They don’t look so low after you pile on those international taxes. And of course, live tv doesn’t work down there either.

Maybe it really is just a case of “jumping on the opportunity.” The bilateral agreement with Mexico allows for three carriers from each country to fly this route. Currently, Alaska and American both fly it twice daily from the US and Mexicana flies it from Mexico. Frontier has been flying it, but they’re giving up and that’s why this new authority is available. United has applied for it with the possibility of connections throughout California, and now Virgin America has jumped in with only a couple connecting opportunities that are already well-served.

But as I’ve said earlier, this market really doesn’t need another carrier in it. CEO David Cush says “Since it was a low-cost airline that is giving up the right to fly to Cabo, we think it would be ideal for another low-cost carrier to take its place.” Um, so since it was a low-cost airline that failed in Cabo, does that mean another low-cost carrier should follow in its footsteps?

After that statement, he should have added, “Look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey.” Yes, as a friend of mine said, this a prime example of the Chewbacca Defense. That’s right. It just does not make sense.

Do they have a strategy right now that I’m missing? Someone please help me see the light, because it’s looking pretty dark to me right now. From what I can tell, the best success they’ve had is with their tiny first class cabin. It would seem to me that you’d want to start focusing on what’s worked for you instead of going into a market where first class isn’t going to matter at all.

Alaska, always the gentleman, has decided to roll out the red carpet for Virgin America’s upcoming arrival in Seattle by announcing a bunch of new flights and double bonus miles. Wait, that’s not very welcoming, is it?

Alaska has effectively decided to turn their Seattle - California services into a shuttle-style operation with flights either on the hour or half hour starting April 27. From Seattle to LAX, southbound flights will depart 15 times daily on the hour (up from 12 daily) while northbound flights will depart on the half hour. Flights to San Diego, Orange County, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose will follow the same schedule, but they’ll run every two hours.

If the flight times aren’t good enough, maybe you’ll like the mileage promo. Fly twice from March 15 through May 15 between Seattle and LAX or SFO and you’ll get double miles for every trip on those routes from May 16 through the end of the year.

This seems like a particularly nasty response to Virgin America’s impending entry, wouldn’t you say? I mean, VX will have 3 flights a day to SFO and 4 to LAX when they’re at full strength. These moves make the VX schedule look like nothing, but then again it already looked that way before.

Is the demand really there for this? Maybe. I mean, United has pulled capacity in those markets over the last few years, and Delta is only flying RJs, so there isn’t nearly as many flights as there has been in the past. The shuttle-style service will probably be well-received so this could be ok for them, but I’d be surprised.

How are they adding these flights? Well, they’re canceling the Orange County - Oakland route. That competed with Southwest anyway, so it’s probably a better move to cancel those. Whether this is the best use of those aircraft is questionable.

But let’s be honest, they wouldn’t be doing this without the VX threat. These are two of their biggest markets (if not the top 2), and they are not going to let VX establish even the tiniest of presences without a fight. Which once again makes me wonder why VX would bother with a market like this. It’s not like Alaska is a weakling that people hate. VX is just asking for it.

It wasn’t that long ago that I questioned Virgin America’s decision to focus more on short hauls. Well, they’ve announced their latest city, and once again, they aren’t going far.

This time, the winner is Seattle. They start 3 flights a day from SFO on March 18 and then 3 daily from LAX on April 8. LAX will get a fourth flight on May 11.

They’re definitely staying away from transcon flights. Fuel prices are probably making that a tough market for them. But at least LAX-SEA is a longer haul route so people can enjoy the onboard amenities. Only problem? Alaska Airlines.

People in the Pacific Northwest tend to actually like Alaska Airlines. You don’t hear that about airlines very often, but this is an exception. Can VX really go up against these guys? Their biggest problem, as it has been in every market they’ve entered, is lack of frequency. In this case, Alaska smokes them with 12 daily from LAX to SEA and 8 daily from SFO. That, of course, doesn’t include 19 flights to four other LA Basin airports and 13 to other Bay Area airports.

Yes, VX will be dropping prices when they enter, but you know Alaska will match (they probably have already). This one isn’t going to be easy.