virgin america

The Gizmo Airline Report: Virgin America

In a way, this story is left over from CES 2008, where I attended a blogger party hosted by the Parnassus Group and sponsored by, among other companies, Virgin America, the US domestic airline counterpart to Virgin Atlantic.

The party was a lot of fun, and all the sponsors did extensive giveaways. I got a flight suit from Intel and Zero G, a private company that offers "weightless" (parabolic trajectory) flights. Alas, I didn't win a Zero G flight, but I did win a free flight on Virgin America. In fact, I think pretty much everyone at … Read more

American Airlines and Virgin America promise in-flight broadband

Editor's note: This blog initially misidentified the provider of JetBlue's in-flight broadband service.

In-flight broadband is coming soon for travelers on some American Airlines and Virgin America flights. But will the companies hit the right price point to attract customers?

Aircell, a company that sells air-to-ground telecommunications equipment to airlines, said this week that its in-flight broadband system will be used on some Virgin America and American Airlines flights originating from San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York and Miami.

American Airlines will initially enable 15 of its 767s with broadband, and eventually it will offer Internet … Read more

Pre-CES: Virgin America - where else can your seat be rebooted?

On the way to the CES I took Virgin America, the new airline venture from Virgin, and had the bizarre experience of having my seat re-booted, no, not rebooked, but re-booted because the remote control unit for my seat wasn't working.

How apt, I thought, that on the way to the geekiest, techiest place on Earth (at least for the next few days), that the plane carrying me there featured touchscreen entertainment center controls for on-demand food, music videos, tv, and mp3s.

The whole experience was, like most products these days getting our attention, was slick. The plane's … Read more

The gadget geek's airline

After months of clearing Department of Transportation hurdles over the foreign ownership of U.S. airlines, Virgin America launched its inaugural flights today from New York's JFK airport and Los Angeles to San Francisco. The flights mark the entry of yet another airline into the already crowded U.S. market, but Virgin America hopes to steal some of Jet Blue's thunder by offering low fares, high-tech airplanes, and a hip image.

The Airbus A319 and A320 fleet features mood lighting that will change from day to night, and leather seats with adjustable headrests. What's more, Virgin America'… Read more