Well, I don't wish unemployment on any pilot (been there, done that, got the unemployment check).

That said, the saga continues. Looks like they're going to have to do the "full Monty", as it were. WSJ had this today:

Virgin America Must File Data - WSJ.com

• JANUARY 30, 2009

Virgin America Must File Data

Virgin America Inc. will have to disclose financial and traffic data beginning next week after losing a battle to keep it confidential.

The airline has sought to keep its data under wraps, claiming it would suffer "competitive harm" if forced to open its books.

Rivals have pressured regulators to make Virgin America disclose a range of performance and financial statistics.

The U.S. Department of Transportation denied its request in a letter dated Jan. 28, a copy of which was obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.

The airline will have to provide data going back to its launch, in 2007. Virgin America and its legal representative weren't immediately available for comment.

Good. They should have to do it like everybody else. My guess is they're hurting, and they don't want the investing public to know it.

Or their credit card processor. Several airlines have been forced into bankruptcy just because of holdbacks. I believe Frontier was the last.

Not cool at all.

Or perhaps the foreign investment tendrils are deeper than they want revealed? I have no problem if they want to withhold data - it's called being a privately held corporation. If you are public you play by the same rules as everyone else. Sure seems like they have something to hide.

neither is their contract.

Good friend of mine works for Virgin. She flew the SFO-LAX round trip last night......not a soul on board both ways.

I have a friend that went to VA. He was an ALPA rep at ASA. Good family man and hardcore trade unionist.

ASA pulled out of SLC and LAX, and having bought a pretty little house in SLC, he was faced with a hellaceous commute. He ended up going to JBlu hoping for an LA base. No dice. He left there after about a year and went to VA, short easy commute to SFO. Oh, BTW, he's a member of this forum. Maybe he'll chime in.

You should think twice before lumping everyone who works at a particular carrier as scum or scabs and also when wishing fellow pilots out of work.

There are good people at every carrier. That does not mean I want to see the industry continue to be eroded by carriers such as VA simply to provide a living for good people like your friend.

Sooner or later a far larger number of good people with similar stories are effected by the wages, work rules, etc of such companies on the rest of the industry.

Sorry, I just find that VERY hard to believe...

I have a bunch of friends that left U3K to go to Virgin, it seems like a great place to work. For those of you wondering, I give U3K about 2 years...

I should have gone to law school...

RK