Branson Archives - TravelSkills

Japan Airlines eyes 5-1/2 hour San Francisco-Tokyo flights

December 5, 2017

Boom’s SST design would be smaller than Concorde. (Image: Boom)

We’ve reported before about a Colorado-based aircraft manufacturer called Boom, which is developing a next-generation supersonic passenger plane. In 2016, it got a big boost from Sir Richard Branson, and now Japan Airlines is officially joining the supersonic party.

Branson’s involvement with Boom included an option to purchase the first 10 airframes it produces, followed late last year by the creation of a technical partnership between Boom and Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceflight company, committing the two firms to work together on engineering, manufacturing and flight tests.

Now Japan Airlines says it has made a strategic $10 million investment in Boom, and has taken a pre-order option to buy up to 20 supersonic aircraft from the manufacturer. JAL added that it will be working with Boom “to refine the aircraft design and help define the passenger experience for supersonic travel.” In fact, Boom CEO Blake Scholl said his company has been working “behind the scenes” with JAL for more than a year.

Rendering of a passenger seat on the planned SST. (Image: Boom)

Boom’s initial design specs envision an aircraft with 45-55 business class-type seats (about half the size of the late Concorde), a cruising speed of Mach 2.2 (2.2 times the speed of sound, or 1,415 mph – a little faster than Concorde’s Mach 2), a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet, and the beginning of commercial service by the “mid-2020s,” assuming all goes well.

Scholl said last year that the plane could operate profitably on as many as 500 international routes with sufficient demand for a supersonic product, like Tokyo-San Francisco, New York-London and Los Angeles-Sydney.

JAL currently uses a 777-300 on the SFO-Tokyo route. (Image: Japan Airlines)

Sir Richard Branson has estimated that the new SST could make the New York-London trip in three and a half hours, and operate profitably at fares of about $5,000 roundtrip. The aircraft would have a range of 8,334 kilometers, or 4,500 nautical miles, enough to fly non-stop from Beijing to London — or from San Francisco to Tokyo in five and a half hours.

Bloomberg News said Boom now has commitments for 75 aircraft from five airlines, with some customers already paying significant deposits, and it reported that Boom just hired a former Airbus executive as its new vice president of production.

Readers: How much of a premium over business class fares would you be willing to pay for a supersonic flight that cuts your travel time in half or better?

ICYMI, see the 25 most recent TravelSkills posts right here

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Popular: LAX mess + Virgin fate + Spaceship + Ban + Cheap spring

March 26, 2017

Every now and then even TravelSkills ventures beyond the curtain. Seat 40D SFO>ATL on a Delta 757. Not bad! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Emotions run high in the comments Alaska Airlines reveals fate of Virgin America

2 It’s gonna be cray-cray Multi-airline mega-move at LAX just weeks away

3 Spacey! Virgin America view: My most jaw-dropping window seat view…ever [VIDEO]

Remembering Virgin America and the opening of Terminal 2 SFO in 2011 (Chris McGinnis)

4 Sale fares gone but still cheap New $149 California-Spain flights – and it’s not Norwegian

5 Routes: Norwegian/BA at Oakland, Alaska/Condor, China Eastern, KLM, Air Canada, Volaris

6 Say what? Ugly aircraft noise, beautifully displayed

7 Dealing with it Electronics ban spreads: Advice & alternative explanations

8 Fastest growing airport in the US: Mineta San Jose Airport: New transcon routes and more

9 He made a cool $600 million on the deal: Richard Branson bids good-bye to Virgin America

10 LOL: The lighter side the electronics ban

Don’t miss: Why this spring travel season is different- and cheaper– than before

Removing the “cab” atop SFO’s old control tower (Chris McGinnis)

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Alaska Airlines adds German Condor as mileage partner

America’s most hair raising airport landings

Uber softening stance on tipping?

United finishes up security modernization at Newark hub

Marriott adding new search engine for local experiences

At ATL, Lyft, Uber already getting twice the biz as cab companies

The South’s best fried chicken restaurants

Last week Virgin Atlantic launched new 3x per week “Man-Fran” nonstops between SFO and Manchester, UK. Lowest fares for May $659 roundtrip. Virgin says “Man-Fran will build on a shared psyche between these two northern cities, both famous for their wet weather, trams, music, LBGT and street art scenes; one built on a heritage of silicon and the other rebuilding itself as a British tech hub” (Photo: Virgin)

American Express CEO made a cool $22 million last year

Austin airport was designed for 11 million passengers but currently doing 12 million.

Pilots charge American’s on-time departure obsession is stranding standby passengers

Faced with in-cabin ban, Emirates offers special handling for laptops

Marriott’s growth target: 300,000 more rooms in two years

AA said to eye big investment in China Southern

FAA predicts a 65 percent increase in airline traffic over the next 20 years

JetBlue introduces a new treat for Mint passengers

New app offers simplified interface for air/hotel bookings, changes

EU to U.K. airlines: Move your HQ to the continent or you could lose routes

ICYMI, see the 25 most recent TravelSkills posts right here

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Supersonic: 3.5 hour JFK-London flights for $2,500

November 17, 2016

Boom’s SST design would be smaller than Concorde. (Image: Boom)

Roundtrip from New York to London for $5,000, with a 3-1/2 hour flight time in each direction? That’s the goal Sir Richard Branson has in mind for his new partnership with a U.S.-based company working on a supersonic passenger jet.

Branson, the founder of Virgin Group and Virgin Atlantic Airways, this week said his Virgin Galactic subsidiary —which hopes to sell space flights – is entering into a partnership with the Colorado start-up Boom to bring about the next generation of SSTs.

He said the Spaceship Company – the technical division of Virgin Galactic – will work with Boom by providing help with engineering, manufacturing expertise and flight tests. Branson and Boom CEO Blake Scholl said they hope to launch commercial flights with the new aircraft by 2023.

Don’t miss! Chris’s Trip Report from BA Concorde JFK-LHR

Rendering of a passenger seat on the planned SST. (Image: Boom)

The proposed new aircraft would have only 45 to 50 seats – about half as many as the Concorde, which stopped flying 20 years ago. Scholl said the aircraft could be economical on hundreds of routes, but would initially focus on New York-London, Tokyo-San Francisco and Los Angeles-Sydney.

The new partnership between Virgin Galactic and Boom represents an increased commitment to the project from Branson, who earlier this year signed an option to buy the first 10 airframes produced by the manufacturer. Branson cast his lot with Boom rather than Boeing or Lockheed-Martin, which are also working on SST prototypes, because Boom plans to use existing technology that won’t require any additional regulatory approval and thus could start operating sooner.

The proposed aircraft would reach a velocity of 2.2 times the speed of sound and would cruise at 60,000 feet – high enough to see the curvature of the planet.

Would you fly it? Please leave your comments below.

Don’t miss! Chris’s Trip Report from BA Concorde JFK-LHR

ICYMI, see the 25 most recent TravelSkills posts right here

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SAS arrival + Fight over Jersey + Taipei Delei + United woes

April 14, 2013

The first SAS A340 arrives at SFO to a water cannon salute (Photo: Joe D’Alessandro)

SKAL TO SAS. SAS touched down at SFO last Monday at around 2:30pm. While TravelSkills was unable to attend the airport arrival celebration, reader Joe D’Alessandro sent along the above photo of the first SAS A340-300 getting a water cannon salute. Within 10 minutes, we posted the photo on TravelSkills Facebook page and our sister column on SFgate. D’Alessandro is the head of San Francisco Travel, and was at SFO to give a welcome speech, during which he mentioned the quickly posted photo as an example of the power and reach of social media in the Bay Area! Cool! (TravelSkills’s onboard SAS this week bound for Copenhagen, so stay tuned for our review!)

Pete Cashmore (Mashable) and Richard Branson on the Virgin America Inaugural LAX-EWR flight.

VIRGIN AMERICA IN JERSEY. Another inaugural this week: Virgin America jets touched down in Newark, New Jersey, with Richard Branson and Mashable’s Pete Cashmore onboard in a Google+ Hangout, in which Branson shared that fares between California and Newark are down 40% since Virgin’s entry into the market. In later interviews, Branson talked about the possibility of filing an antitrust complaint against United for its overwhelming buildup of flights in response to Virgin’s entry into the market, which TravelSkills pointed out in early March. United was quick to point out that its response was nothing more than business as usual. What do you think?

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TAIPEI DELEI. United has postponed the start of its nonstops between SFO and Taipei for a full YEAR– until March 2014. Originally, flights were to have started this month, but that was then pushed until June. Routes Online reports that the delay is due to “market seasonality and the availability of wide body aircraft as a result of the ongoing Boeing 787 delays…. Due to the 787 issue, the Boeing 777 that we would use on the SFO-TPE route is now needed to support other existing routes that we planned to transition to Boeing 787s.” Speaking of United’s 787’s, the currently grounded plane is now back on United’s schedule starting May 31, flying between Denver and Houston. However, the FAA has not yet given airline the green light to fly 787s, but it’s expected soon. (United’s new flights to Paris, announced at the same time as Taipei, crank up on April 26.)

UNITED CEO PAY CUT. The Miami Herald reports that CEO of United Airlines saw his total 2012 compensation shrink 41 percent last year after stumbles in the airline’s merger with Continental. Compensation for Chairman and CEO Jeff Smisek was $7.9 million last year, down from $13.4 million after a cut in his incentive payments.

MEGA-MILEAGE BONUSES. Did you check out our post this week on two new sites offering big bonuses for hotel stays… how about 15,000 United Mileage Plus miles for a three night stay in NYC or Chicago? Not bad. But not for everyone. Read about it here.

Virgin America’s newest A320’s have sharklets on the wings. Seen em? (Photo: Virgin America)

BEST AND WORST OF TIMES. Interesting to note that the much-ballyhooed (but generally ignored by consumers) “2012 Airline Quality Rankings” came out this week with the Bay Area’s two largest airlines at opposite ends. Virgin America ranked #1… and United ranked dead last at #14. Virgins’ win was attributed to its smaller, more manageable size, newer planes, wi-fi, fun crews, etc. Most of the blame for United’s dismal showing was based on its computer switchover and consolidation with Continental woes. Do these survey results make you MORE likely to choose Virgin and LESS likely to fly United? Please leave your comments below.

Here’s how the airlines ranked in 2012, as well as their position the previous year.

1) Virgin America (new to the ranking this year*)
2) JetBlue (3)
3) AirTran (1)
4) Delta (6)
5) Hawaiian (2)
6) Alaska (5)
7) Frontier (4)
8) Southwest (7)
9) US Airways (8)
10) American (10)
11) American Eagle (15)
12) SkyWest (9)
13) ExpressJet (new to the ranking this year*)
14) United (12)
*In order to qualify for inclusion in the report, an airline must carry at least 1 percent of domestic passengers.

ELEGANT EVENING. On Tuesday, SAS threw an elegant dinner party for about 150 at the Asian Art Museum. Among the dignitaries on the dais, SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson and ex-SF-mayor Willie Brown, who’s energetic and spot on speech brought the relatively buttoned up house down. What a show! Bay Area Traveler editor Chris McGinnis was honored to be among the attendees.

—Chris McGinnis

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Virgin America debuts new Banana Republic uniforms

July 12, 2012

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Two Bay Area companies well known for their distinctive style, Virgin America and Banana Republic, have teamed up to create a new line of uniforms for Virgin America’s 2,000+ front-line employees. The new look is dubbed “utility chic.”

Starting on August 8, the new line will make its debut on ~~runways~~ airplane aisles and airport concourses as Virgin’s flight attendants, pilots and airport employees don their new attire.

The project began with what sounds like a “Project Runway” challenge among Banana Republic design teams in New York City. Each team submitted their early designs to a panel of Virgin employees, and the winning design won the chance to create the full collection. Virgin says that the entire process took 18 months, multiple fittings, focus groups (and likely many cross-country SFO-JFK trips) to design. There’s a variety of styles for Virgin America’s pilots, in-flight and guest service employees.

Project Runway’s snappy Tim Gunn (Photo: A+E Networks)

For men, the nine styles include leather jackets, lined mac coats, striped sleeve sweaters, woven shirts and pants. For women, thirteen styles include a classic pencil skirt, slim dress, trousers, leather jacket and trench to start, paired with luxe silk print scarves, slim plaque belts and Virgin America-branded serving aprons for in-flight meal service. All looks include classic aviation touches, such as shoulder tabs and button chest pockets.

Take a spin through the slideshow above and let us know what you think! I for one will miss the pilot’s current all-black (and oh so S-F) uniform– from the looks of the photos provided by Virgin, it will change to a smoky brown. I was also hoping that flight attendant pumps would be red– just like those worn by Virgin Atlantic flight attendants. A spokesperson told TravelSkills that red pumps (and even boots!) are on the drawing board for next year. I do like the leather jackets!

So come on, channel your inner Tim Gunn, click through the slideshow and tell us what you think about the new styles! Comments below please!

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