NEWS: Not So Fast Virgin America
It looks like Branson's latest venture, Virgin America will not be making that mid-2005 start up as their flashy website purports. Apparently its taking them longer than expected to finalize the investment money and to answer the 20,000 plus questions that the Dept of Transportation (DOT) asks new airline applicants. Seriously, I'm not kidding, 20,000 questions! So now it looks like 2006 before Virgin America will launch.
As I look at the buzz surrounding Virgin America I can't help but draw comparisons to JetBlue. This looks to be a well funded start up that wants to deliver a lot of bang for your low fare buck. Like JetBlue, Virgin seems to be hinting that they will deliver lots of high end goodies and services.
I wonder if this is going to be the next big thing for low fare carriers? How much product can you squeeze out of that low fare? Maybe this type of business model is going to be the one that finally challenges Southwest Airlines. As low fares and low fare carriers become increasingly common place it may be the "extras" that attract customers.
As I look at the buzz surrounding Virgin America I can't help but draw comparisons to JetBlue. This looks to be a well funded start up that wants to deliver a lot of bang for your low fare buck. Like JetBlue, Virgin seems to be hinting that they will deliver lots of high end goodies and services.
I wonder if this is going to be the next big thing for low fare carriers? How much product can you squeeze out of that low fare? Maybe this type of business model is going to be the one that finally challenges Southwest Airlines. As low fares and low fare carriers become increasingly common place it may be the "extras" that attract customers.
Labels: start-up, Virgin America
posted by The ACK at
08:33
