Innovation at Virgin America: Creating and Sustaining a Distinctive Brand

The history of Virgin America can be traced back to early 2004, when Virgin Group announced its intent to start a new US-based low-fare airline. Though the airline was relatively new, it had a very intricate history and birth. Initially, the airline had the working name of “Virgin USA” and expected to start operations by mid-2005. After considering several key areas, the San Francisco Bay Area was chosen as the location of its flight operations center, and later its corporate headquarters.

The airline had trouble finding US investors willing to gamble on a new airline at a time when the already crowded US airline industry was struggling because of skyrocketing fuel prices. While United Airlines and US Airways were in bankruptcy, Delta Airlines was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy protection as well. Moreover, there were various pressure groups that had tried to stop Virgin USA from flying. As a result, the launch date was pushed back from mid-2005 to early 2006. The airline also changed its name from “Virgin USA” to “Virgin America”..