Where there's a party, there's usually a Virgin America logo.

We're used to attending all sorts of parties for Virgin America whenever they launch a new route or service but on Friday night, we were able to catch Virgin America and its sister airline, V Australia celebrate something different--the kickoff of The Sunset Strip Music Festival at the old Riot Hyatt aka The Andaz West Hollywood.

Celebs that showed up and worked the red carpet for the start of the three-day rock event on the Strip included Chris Cornell; legendary music producer Lou Adler (yes, father to Cisco); The Donnas; Caridee English; Taryn Manning;the Swedish "sleaze rock" band Vains of Jenna and Kristen Bauer from True Blood.]]> juliana 2009-09-14T16:58:52-05:00 34.0952395 -118.37280 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/11/94938/1897

This morning, Virgin America not only announced that their 10th destination would be Fort Lauderdale from SFO and LAX beginning in November, but they hinted at other cities soon to possibly pop up on their route maps.

Curious to get the straight dope, we gave VA CEO David Cush a call to talk fun in the sun, international routes, and of course Chicago. Read on to hear Cush's take on the future of Virgin America.

On the addition of Fort Lauderdale:
Cush understands that "everyone is excited for new routes," but this one especially so since it's their tenth and only the beginning of a period of southern expansion.

On how they are deciding on future destinations:
"If you look at Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 corporate bases, those are pretty good places to start. You've got Atlanta, Dallas with their telecom, the semiconductors and computer companies in Austin and even on to Newark and Philadelphia." We also made sure not to forget about good old Raleigh-Durham, which Cush assures is an option as most corporate cities are fair game for them right now. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-08-11T09:49:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/8/91514/9958

Just three days after scrapping plans to touch down at Chicago O'Hare, Virgin America has announced it will start flights to Boston Logan on February 12, 2009. Three flights a day will connect BOS and LAX, and two round-trips daily will link Boston to San Francisco. Sorry, New York: No shuttle flights for you just yet.

While hyping low fares (starting at $149 each way for BOS-LAX) and the fact that this is the carrier's eighth city (!), Virgin also managed to get in a few digs at Chicago, the city that apparently couldn't bully the majors into giving up a few of their precious gates at O'Hare. Says CEO David Cush:

We thank the state, city and airport for their support and warm welcome, and we can’t wait to introduce our upscale, high value service to Boston travelers--especially on the SFO-BOS and LAX-BOS routes that until today offered no low fare competition.

So while Boston will likely now see fares drop, passengers flying out of O'Hare will continue getting hosed. If you're looking for someone to send those angry letters to, Chicago, your Department of Aviation commissioner is Richard Rodriguez--and here's how to get in touch with him!

Related Stories:
· For Lack of Gates at O'Hare, Virgin Cancels Chicago Flight Plans [Jaunted]
· The History of Virgin America's "Expansions" [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-12-08T09:17:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/25/14827/914

While newly wireless Virgin America is holding off on acquiring new planes for now, that didn't stop CEO David Cush from talking up some new cities that his airline is eyeing. Where might we see VA in the next couple years? Austin-Bergstrom International and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.

Back in 2007, all the speculation was focused Miami and Boston, two cities that Virgin still says might be on the route map in the future. Then, of course, there's the Chicago situation, which VA says should be resolved soon.

Even more esoteric expansions we've heard mentioned in the past include Vancouver and Cabo; haven't seen flights to either of those cities yet, despite previous claims that Virgin would be in 10 cities by the second half of this year. Heh: This recession is killing everyone!

Related Stories:
· Virgin America Raises More Cash [Aviation Week]
· What's Next for Virgin America? [Jaunted]

[Photo: davitydave]]]> pbb 2008-11-25T14:08:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/24/8431/6888

Virgin America CEO David Cush speaks before boarding begins on the airline's WiFi demonstration Saturday.

We were so jazzed during our Virgin America in-flight WiFi liveblog, we never really answered the question: So, how was the WiFi anyway? We can safely say: It was great.

Gogo's service runs on the EVDO network delivered through 92 on-the-ground towers, but it was faster than we've ever been able to pick up on our terrestrial cell phones. It has the potential to get faster as well, Tim Maxwell of Aircell told us, with the addition of more towers--but unless you're on a T1 line on the ground, you probably won't notice any need for improvement.

We had no problem connecting and there were no noticeable interruptions or stoppages in the service--something we reflected on ruefully when we were unable to connect to our in-room WiFi at the W San Francisco the next morning.

If there was any blip to the in-flight entertainment, it happened during the YouTube Live portion of the evening.

After teasing us with the prospect of a segment being broadcast from the plane to The Internets, the powers that be decided to shoot it in first class where "30 Rock"'s Keith Powell and Katrina Bowden were sitting. Because everyone in the aisles rushed to the front to get a glimpse of the goings on, we couldn't see a blessed thing--nor did we hear a peep, except for the beginning and end of the shoot. So you'll have to tell us how it went, because despite being there, we have no idea.

Still, it's hard to question that, for tech-savvy travelers, having access to the internet will change the flight experience completely. On the other hand, now there's no escape from the pressures of the office, so make sure to fly non-wired airplanes when you need a chance to kick back on company time.

Somewhere, Richard Branson is laughing at us.

Related Stories:
· Virgin America Inflight Wifi Liveblog [Jaunted]
· Funky Flight Safety Videos and Scenic Flybys on Virgin America's New YouTube Channel [Jaunted]
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]]]> egw 2008-11-24T09:00:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/23/13313/476

The biggest news surrounding Virgin America this weekend was the roll out of in-flight WiFi with a special beta flight on Saturday. (Why yes, we were in attendance.) But more news happened to shake out Saturday that sheds light on the still-young carrier's future.

CEO David Cush told Reuters that with prices at roughly a third of the highs hit this summer, now might be the time to secure some good deals on fuel:

We see a pretty unique opportunity with what's going on in the fuel markets right now to go in and lock in some long positions. I would imagine over the course of the next several weeks that we will be going out two and three, and perhaps even four, years into the fuel market and locking in some of the prices that are there today.

Cush also revealed that Virgin America probably won't turn a profit until 2011; previously VA was aiming to make money by 2010. There might not be a chance to revise that date again: After asking investors for another infusion of capital in October, there's currently enough cash in the bank to last another three years.

Related Stories:
· Virgin America Sees Fuel Hedge Opportunity [Jaunted]
· Virgin America Could Scrap Chicago Plans [Jaunted]

[Photo: Virgin America]]]> pbb 2008-11-23T13:03:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/13/101443/995

A Jaunted Exclusive

Virgin America will ask the FAA for a share of the Chicago market this week, and if all goes well, VA will be flying to O'Hare by November.

After Virgin confirmed the expansion plans, we were excited to talk with CEO David Cush, posing here with Cisco Adler, about the future of the airline, how the FAA allocates landing rights and what it's like to compete with a former employer.

Jaunted: We've been hearing rumors about Chicago for months. Why make the move into that new market now?

DC: You're not an airline until you fly to Chicago. We want to fly four flights a day from LAX and SFO to ORD because this is third largest travel market in the US and we think Chicagoans are going to love our product.

Currently, Chicago/O'Hare has virtually no low-fare competition to the West Coast and none from SFO or LAX. We think we can compete with the big guys and inject a little healthy competition into a market that desperately needs it.