Despite intense opposition from U.S.-based carriers and lawmakers, Virgin America, an offshoot of entrepreneur Richard Branson’s mega-successful Virgin Atlantic airline, is moving forward with plans to enter the U.S. market.
Virgin America announced plans Wednesday to bring the low-cost carrier to Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. The four cities are in addition to its planned inaugural route from San Francisco to New York. The company also announced it is looking into routes in 40 other cities, including Baltimore.
“It’s exciting to share our plans for our first destinations we plan to serve this year,” Fred Reid, Virgin America’s CEO, said in a statement. “Of course, we’re still working hard to complete our certification process.
Considering the far-reaching, significant changes our investors recently made to the company to address the department’s concerns, we are hopeful to complete the certification process at the earliest possible date.”
Reid’s statement referred to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which tentatively denied Virgin’s application last month to begin U.S. routes, largely because of its ties to U.K. citizen Branson.
A federal law caps foreign control of U.S. airline’s at 25 percent, and Virgin has been hastily restructuring the company to remove the appearance of ties to the U.K. For example, Virgin America announced Tuesday that Samuel Skinner, who served as the Transportation Department’s secretary under President George H.W. Bush, will serve as Virgin America’s vice chairman. The company has also proposed selling more stock to U.S. investors and possibly replacing Reid.
The Department of Transportation is expected to review Virgin America’s revamped application in mid-March at the earliest.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
