Being a Virgin Galactic ‘Founder Astronaut’ I had to take the opportunity to test fly Virgin’s new US airline, Virgin America, as they launched a new service from Washington Dulles to San Francisco International.
As I walked into their new Airbus 320, I grokked what they meant by “mood lighting.” All the stress of getting to the airport melted away and the excitement of being on a plane that looks like it has been customized to be the U2 touring plane set in: black leather seats, white molded tray tables that are “Space Odyssey” approved, purple recessed lighting, a full in-flight entertainment system, and my personal favorite- real power outlets.
Much to my surprise, seat 15A lands me next to the charming CEO of Virgin America, Fred Reid. We talk about everything from Jefferson Airplane, to the expansion of the universe, to Northern California’s Madrone trees. Our conclusion? Virgin Galactic and Virgin America need to get together and work out their code-sharing and mileage plans…
Fred heads off for an interview and I immediately set out to find the promised outlet that will keep my laptop purring the whole way to SF. Along with the outlet is a USB port that can charge your PDA while your computer uses the A/C outlet and an rj45 jack which I am told will allow an alternative to wireless internet access (which the plane will also have) when internet access comes online in summer or fall of 2008.
I plug in my headset and start putting together my playlist from their iPod-like selection of music. Everything I want from Fleetwood Mac, to David Bowie, to No Doubt is there. There are things I wish I could do that I can’t (like slide the slider down and not have to use the down arrow), but overall I can control it better then I can control by iPod so I am happy (and I will send an email requesting that feature when we land). I also learned a trick to get the volume loud enough for my post-punk rock ears to hear- use the remote control buttons not the soft buttons on the screen, they go louder.
All and all it was a delight to fly coast to coast with such great service. The only thing missing was the flight attendants needing Velcro shoes to keep them from floating away.
(Full disclosure, I flew as a guest of Virgin America)
