Virgin America, which was sold in April to Alaska Airlines, may have a future under its own name. Alaska’s CEO, Brad Tilden, said this week he might keep the name and brand going as two airlines under one ownership.
He told the Wings Club, a group of aviation professionals, that “we are looking at that because we do believe in the power of the Virgin America brand and we don’t want to lose all that loyalty and revenue…” The two airlines have historic appeal to different audiences, and Virgin America fliers have been nervous about the merger. No firm decision has been made.
In the U.S., mergers such as Delta and Northwest, United and Continental and American and USAir in recent years, have continued the trend of operating under one name, but numbers of European airline groups have kept multiple brands going, often for reasons of national pride. For example, the “flag carriers” of Britain, Spain and Ireland are all under one ownership, as are Air France and Holland’s KLM. Lufthansa operates the “national” carriers of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Alaska Airlines photo
