TMM1982

Well that would suck as I go to LAX more than SFO. I'm so sickened by this merger. VX was my domestic rock.

VXCabinCrew

You have some really interesting points. I have no clue what AS grand plan is, but I think you could be right that AS might not have much to show for the takeover of VX. I don't know if they will invest much into the premium transcon market out of SFO & LAX, as their current product is not compelling enough to be competitive. And I don't seem them investing in a subfleet, unless they maintain our Airbus fleet. AS management is very fiscally conservative, so I find it hard to believe they didn't give much thought to the takeover....unless, they were so terrified by a VX + B6 combo.

All of us in inflight at VX are being integrated into AS....the details about how seniority will work and what the bases will be are still vague. I have to say that even though we are all sad and have shed a lot of tears (one of my pilots cried during his briefing the other day as he thanked us for all of our hard work), we are also excited to earn much more money and have much more employee-friendly work rules than we had at VX. That's not to knock VX - I wouldn't trade the past several years for anything and wish that we could continue. But I think you will see the majority of us at AS. We are excited about training together and having all VX crews working AS flights.

This is a sad time for all of us, but we have to find the bright side. We will still be operating as normal for the next 16 months or so, therefore, we have to put our smile on everyday and continue offering our great service. Just pardon us if you see us taking crew photos like crazy before boarding =)

Visconti

Of course, I'm sure everyone here wishes only the best for you and all of your VX colleagues. Moreover, I also wish the best for AS employees too. The dislocation of change forced upon me by the takeover is a trifle matter next to the careers and financial well being of real people.

As a Bay Area person, I'm going to miss the hometown Airline that I felt was created for people such as myself; namely, the non-elite anti-Legacy pax who just wanted the best value for his hard earned money. For that, VX was a smashing success, as far as I'm concerned.

Sadly, I doubt AS will fit my needs the way VX did.

radiowell

I also wish VX and AS crew the best (mergers are not fun, believe me). And I REALLY admire your optimism ^. We need more crew members like you in our country!!

Pi7473000

Alaska Airlines service is awful compared to Virgin America. IT Is too bad to see such an amazing airline taken over by a mediocre airline that does not provide any cheaper fares then what I get from others. I had to fly Alaska from OGG to SEA in F and the service was awful even compared to United! I am not impressed. Hopefully the merger will be blocked as all it will do is increase fares and decrease the wonderful service Virgin America provides.

Pi7473000

That is true! I would fly American or United domestic F over Alaska especially between their hubs as I have a chance for a widebody.

Visconti

As consumers, there's no need for us to be PC, diplomatic or express ourselves with AS's sensitives in mind. I couldn't care less about the miles program, elite upgrades and all that legacy stuff. If I wanted the legacy stuff, I'd fly the legacy carriers, not VX.

For VX customers, AS is a downgrade period.

ElmhurstNick

But implicit in what you are saying is this: you want your big city airline, and the rest of the country doesn't matter. Because an airline that only serves three metro areas that are more than 90 miles from an ocean... is almost as much of a niche as MGM Air was back in the early 90s.

To play devil's advocate, why aren't you flying B6? I would think Mint is a better product than VX first?

Airlines focused solely on the premium transcon market have existed before. MGM in the 90s is the one that comes to mind first, but I know there have been others. None have lasted, either as nonstops or with quick stops within the LGA perimeter. There's a reason for that.... just like most 737 all J low density transatlantic services haven't been wildly successful long-term except for LCY-JFK on the baby BA 318s.

Visconti

From an individual consumer's perspective, since I live work and play in big cities and fly primarily to big cities, I'm not concerned about the "rest" of the country. For example, I live in an area with robust T-Mobile coverage, why would I need or pay more for AT&T of Verizon's broader coverage? Same rationale I use when choosing Airfare.

I do, especially when their Mint class is priced at $599. However, from SFO, for a similar price, I'd rather not have to fly out of Intl A. Now, conversely, from JFK, for the same price, I'd choose B6 because of the Lounge access at T5. With their new CC at 6 pts + FF points at 1.4 cpp, I think B6's value proposition has increased considerably and may fly them more.

As an individual consumer making purchase decisions without a Corp budget, I don't factor in a carrier's long term viability, their utility to others, or any other factor, other than what's the best value for me. Being a disloyal non-Elite, I try to choose the best price vs. schedule for my preferred fare class. And, VX has been the choice on many, but certainly not on all; whereas, I can't envision (though I'm open to the possibility) AS being that choice.

cmd320

The point for me is that VX was not solely focused on providing a good product to the premium transcon market. They are the only airline that offers a halfway decent domestic F product on routes like DAL-SFO/LAX/DCA/LGA, West coast-ORD, FLL-JFK, etc. etc.

transportbiz

For all those lamenting the loss of VX (and I count myself among them) the reality is VW was one economic downturn away from insolvency anyway. Last years and the first half of this year will look great for VX profits, thanks to the windfall of low fuel prices and consolidation in the industry. While consolidation will help long term, those fuel prices won't stay low forever, and if there's a serious downturn in economy driving down travel, those losses can add up fast. VX has made money for only the past 3-years.

There are many things VX does brilliantly. But, chief among them is the ordering system through RED. AS allows you to pre-order food selections (though in my experience, it's a fail about 50% of the time). A combination of these ideas would yield an ideal (and I think profitable) system, reducing waste while making sure supply of fresh food items is adequate.

This would require AS though to install seat back screens, not sure they want to do that, as has been noted above AS is very fiscally conservative (which was far nicer than saying they are cheep). To be fair though, AS isn't as cheep as the majors, you can at least still get a decent beer at the boardroom ;-)

sfozrhfco

The biggest problem with AS is that they have spent too much time in the PNW where there was not a huge differential among carriers. Wow, they give me a tiny snack--AS is great! Wow, they arrived on time--much better than United. They didn't charge me $200 to make a change--amazing! My bag wasn't lost---incredible! The actual inflight experience is not that exciting. You could very well be on Southwest, United, American, or Delta with perhaps a crew that smiles a bit more.

DL chose to have a hub in SEA because they ran out of options for a trans-Pacific gateway. For any other domestic carrier aside from AS, SEA makes no sense as a connection point. They are looking at California like many companies looked at China. Wow, with all those people I just need to sell each one something and I will be rich.

They have never had to deal with premium market competition. They don't serve the needs of the vast amount of people in the country with or without Virgin America. They also have legacy partners which serve all the same cities and many of the same markets. If you pull up a fare on the AS website from SFO/LAX-JFK now, you see a bunch of flights on AA. Why would anybody take an AS 737 when AA has a much better product and they are jointly marketed? AS is thinking they are going to spend a lot for this transaction but they will make it up with additional revenue. I would love to know from where these fare premiums will suddenly appear. LAX is a highly competitive market as is SFO. All the major markets already have reasonable fares and service by several carriers.

The routes that earn a premium for VX are the transcons and AS has no product to compete with AA/DL/B6/UA and much of the VX short haul network as well as the DAL flights are probably not at all or only marginally profitable in the best of times.

I'm sure the initial investors must be giddy to be able to cash out at a level beyond their wildest dreams but AS is digging themselves in pretty deep and unless they come up with an amazingly innovative product which also brings in a significant premium over the incumbent carriers, I can easily see them do what every other carrier has done over time when buying a California carrier---gradually dismantle the network and pretend that the acquisition never happened.

I appreciate the innovation that VX brought and the many great crew members which flew on the flights I took. At the same time, I already shifted my transcon flying to jetBlue which now gives me the option to fly in Mint to either BOS or JFK. As I have family which lives in between the two, I can decide which one makes the most sense for me. With Uber, I could also fly from SFO to LGB and take Uber to my final destination in LA. Southwest is a reasonable option when you need flexibility on a short flight.

I will miss VX for sure but B6 has already started service to LAS and has some other markets they can add. With new interiors, free internet, and a great Mint product at a reasonable price for transcons, I can give most of my business to them and fill in with other carriers when there are no good options. There is nothing terrible about AS but there is nothing special either so I won't go out of my way to fly them--and often times the connections they have through SEA are just not very convenient anyway.

bennos

I've only flown VX and AS a few times each as an east coast person, but I'm struggling to understand this acquisition... the only thing that makes sense is that AS wants to buy VX so nobody else does.

I can't see AS retaining the Virgin brand, I can't see them retaining the onboard product, I can't see them retaining the Airbus fleet (at least in the medium to long term, unless they want to go down the path of fleet diversification), I can't see them wanting to compete in the JFK TCON markets against AA, B6, DL, and (sort of) UA (especially given VX's lagging hard product that would be in need of a refresh). So I guess that gives AS a handful of gates and slots in critical airports?

B6 would have been a much better fit.

edcho

The gates and slots was the official reasoning behind it but it sounds like AS didn't want VX to merge with B6.

Fortunately for AS, they were willing to pay a pretty penny for VX and they have money to do it. It's all about the $$$ in the end.

nsx

I never flew VX but I loved them. They fought against the race to the bottom on the coach in-flight experience, and they saved me money. A lot of money.

Once upon a time when you wanted to watch for low fares that major carriers would match, you subscribed to Southwest’s emails. For at least the past five years when you want to catch low fares on Southwest, you subscribe to emails from Virgin America and JetBlue. Those emails are your only notice of Southwest’s best fares: Fare matches are never publicized by the matching airline.

Just this week Southwest had to reduce its fares to match a Virgin America sale. I refared a Southwest ticket and pocketed the savings. The same thing happens maybe 20 times per year.

Southwest will save many millions in fare matching with VX gone. Some of that money will come out of my pocket. Southwest is popping the champagne.

I still remember the time I bought an SFO-LAX round trip on Southwest for $29 plus tax each way with only one day's notice, earning more than $29 worth of Rapid Rewards credit. That was a VX fare match, unannounced by Southwest as always.

My wallet and I will miss VX when they're gone.