When Alaska Airlines bought Virgin America in December 2016 for $2.6 billion, fans knew the clock was ticking on Richard Branson's aviation brainchild. Initial reports suggested the San Francisco-based airline would stick around until 2019. But a new report says that expiration date is coming a whole lot quicker—not even six months from today.
An Alaska company memo obtained by Flight Global, a website covering the aviation and aerospace industries, says all current Virgin airplanes will begin flying as Alaska flights beginning April 25, 2018. An Alaska spokesperson confirmed the change to Flight Global, meaning flights booked on or after this date will only be available through Alaska's channels, and not Virgin's.
"At this time, we'll integrate our passenger service systems, which means we will have one inventory of flights, one customer website (AlaskaAir.com), one mobile app, and only Alaska kiosks," company spokeswoman Bobbie Egan told Travel Weekly in an email.
As Flight Global reports, Alaska currently sells Virgin America flights on its website through April 24, but the next day, those same routes appear as Alaska flights. Alaska operates only Boeing 737s, while Virgin flies only Airbus A320s, though the Airbus planes will be absorbed into Alaska's fleet.
During the transition, the company will also phase out Virgin branding from airports and online, and eventually, the old Virgin planes, too. Alaska Airlines' CEO Brad Tilden told the San Francisco Business Times in July he anticipated phasing out the Airbus planes and shifting back to an all-Boeing fleet, saying,"This company could not be more in love with Boeing, or loyal to Boeing."
It's also worth noting what this means for Virgin America's frequent flier program and its subsidiary products; members can convert their Elevate points to Alaska's Mileage Plan miles at a rate of 1.3 Mileage Plan miles per Elevate point. The Elevate program will stop accruing points on December 31, 2017, and Virgin America Visa Signature Card holders will see their accounts closed on December 31 as well, according to Nerd Wallet.
It's been a solid ten-year run for Virgin America, but now if you want to fly a Branson brainchild, you'll have to stick to one of its international siblings, like Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Australia. Alas, poor Virgin America, an airline of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.