Oh, and not to get into the debate too deep about customer service. I do believe that most pilots go to work honestly caring about the quality of service they give. But you don't rack up a list like this without being a bit different.



Travel Zoo Leading Provider of Domestic Airfare Deals, 2011

Five Stars for the Diet Detective Annual Airline Snacking and Onboard Food Survey with Health Ratings, 2011

Air Transport World 2011 Industry Achievement Awards for Best Passenger Service

Best Domestic Airline in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards

Best Domestic Airline in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011

Travel + Leisure’s *World’s Best Awards – Best Domestic Airline for Food in 2009

Best U.S. Business/First Class in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Condé Nast Traveler Business Travel Poll

World Airline Awards, Best Low-Cost Airline in North America and Best Overall Guest Service in North America, 2011(formerly Skytrax award)

Skytrax World Airline Awards, Best Low-Cost Airline in North America, 2010
Skytrax World Airline Awards, Best cabin staff in North America, 2009

Zagat’s 2010 Global Airlines Survey (of over 8000 frequent flyers):
#1 overall highest score across all U.S. carriers for quality of service in Main Cabin
#1 for overall quality in First/Business Class among mid-sized domestic carriers
#1 for overall quality in the Economy cabin among mid-sized domestic carriers
Top marks for track record on sustainability

Zagat’s 2009 Global Airlines Survey (of over 5,500 frequent flyers):
#1 for overall quality in First/Business Class among mid-sized domestic carriers
#1 for overall quality in the Economy cabin among mid-sized domestic carriers
#1 ranked Web site among domestic airlines
Top marks for track record on sustainability
Executive Travel Leading Edge Awards, 2011:
Gold: Top Domestic Airline Overall
Gold: Top Domestic Airline Customer Service
Bronze: Top Domestic Airline First-Class Service

Best Travel Company to Work For — Glassdoor

Perfect Score (of 100%) in the 2010 Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate

Equality Index Best Places to Work survey

Most Eco-Friendly Airline,*SmarterTravel*Editor’s Choice, 2010

Greenopia’s “Greenest” Domestic Airline, 2011

The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) in 2011, named Virgin America:
Best In-flight Entertainment in the Americas
Best In-flight Video
Best Overall Passenger Experience
The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) in 2010, named Virgin America:
Best Overall Passenger Experience
The Best in Region: The Americas
The Best Ground Experience
The Best In-Flight Connectivity & Communications

The Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), formerly known as the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) in 2009, named Virgin America:
Best in-Flight Entertainment (IFE) in the America’s region
Best Single Achievement in IFE: on-demand food and drink ordering system on Red™

Best Domestic Airline in Business Traveler Magazine’s 2009 and 2010 “Best in Business Travel Survey”

ATME Atlas Award for Innovation, 2010

Executive Travel Leading Edge Awards, Editors Honors, 2010

Arthur Frommer's 2007 Extra Mile Award in best new travel values for 2007

Favorite Airline in Gadling’s 2010 Airline Survey

Travelzoo Tzoo Award – Best travel innovator 2008

Planet Out, Best Airline

Webby’s Awards, Travel Website Honoree

OMMA Awards, Best Travel Site

Spark Awards 2008, Gold, Virgin America RED™ In-Flight entertainment system design
Spark Awards 2008, Silver, Virgin America Cabin Interior design

 

Thanks! I was hoping my spell check was working good today. And I love spoiling the usual virgin back and forth with actual helpful facts.

 

It's easy to provide good customer service when everyone is new and happy, and enjoying exponential growth. After you've been constantly dumped on for 10-20 years, it gets much tougher. We will see how the VX's do in time, whether they shine or tumble. My guess is it will have to do with what kind of management comes down the pipe in the future.

 

Yet they are not making money. Is that because they just need to get to a certain mass, or could Doug Parker be right and passengers only care about that stuff when they are not paying for it?

 

The list of awards is impressive. But for a pilot looking for a stable career the only worthwhile metric is profitability.

 

Hate to say it but I think Parker is right and will continue to be so. Unless there is some creative advertisements does Virgin flights even come up on priceline.com? Most people will always go find a cheap flight over any brand loyalty.

 

Yes, Virgin America post tickets on priceline, Travelocity and several other travel websites.

 

Add this to your list...ONE profitable quarter in FOUR years of operation. Better keep those resumes current...

 

Yep. Unless you want to be scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush!

Pea

 

I don't know, how much does scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush pay?