Question: Name 4 things to do while being strapped in an airline chair?
Answer: Work, listen, eat and watch.
Virgin America gets that. They’ve made their experience about making those four things better.
They begin with the chair, and the stuff to make sitting in it as good as possible. Even in coach. There’s 110-volt power, with two outlets in every set of three coach seats, along with USB connectors. The coach seats are comfy not lumpy, with cushy padding and leather coverings, and (drum roll) plenty of legroom. Next year Virgin will begin offering internet access via Ethernet in-cabin Wi-Fi. The touch-sensitive seat-back display screens can keep you busy for hours–ordering food and drinks or to text-chatting with other passengers. The inflight entertainment system includes pay-per-view movies, live satellite TV, and more than 3,000 music tracks. Yeah, they’re charging for items here.
But the difference is, they’re items customers want and have been wishing for.
Can someone say cha-ching?!
Sounds great, Jeanne. What about base travel rates? Will they be competitive enough to sell seats even without all the onboard bells and whistles? Looks like increasing fuel prices and mergers are going to affect airfares for a while. Won’t passengers feel more nickled and dimed with the new fees for second bags and other optional add-ons?
I like South West. It is no frills flying but they get me there on time every time.
My goal is just to arrive at my destination and get on with it. Extras are not that important to me unless it is a very long flight.