Much has been written the last few days about Alaska Air Group potentially maintaining two distinct carriers and brand identities…but what about the separate aircraft types? Alaska flies B737s while Virgin flies A320/19s. When the leases are up on the Virgin Airbus fleet, will Alaska Air Group choose to standardize their fleet? No one knows but the Puget Sound Business Journal quotes CEO Brad Tilden as saying the following:
“If you have the single fleet, it’s so much easier across employees, particularly with pilot groups,” Tilden said earlier this year in a conference call after the purchase announcement. “But the Airbus is a proven airplane,” he added. “So we’ll see.”
Hmm, it would be extremely difficult to standardize the fleet and maintain Virgin’s identity without some major on-board improvements.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
1 comment
I hope they keep the Virgin America brand, aircraft, design, seats, style, etc. If the consolidation trend continues in the U.S. they might as well create an American airline called Aeroflot. Variety is the spice of travel.