Virgin Atlantic has been quietly bringing together a plan of action that will see the airline create a business plan that could become a real thorn in British Airways side.

Virgin Atlantic has always been the cheeky upstart that was always good at taking a swipe at Britain’s flag carrier. Whenever British Airways made a misstep, VA was always there to pour a little rubbing alcohol on the wound.

With their partnership with Delta finally bearing fruit, and their acquisition of the A350-1000 and A-330 Neo, they are set to use the strengths they’ve always had, cabin service and product, to truly take the battle to British Airways and finally become the second flag carrier. 

Airways magazine was fortunate enough to be invited on one of the inaugural flights to JFK and review the A350s brand-new Upper Class product. For those who frequently travel, know that Heathrow can be a bit of a trial, just getting from your gate to transportation to downtown London is sometimes a taxing experience. Terminal three can at times look a little dystopian.

Virgin Atlantic’s facility at terminal three is an oasis, the staff down to a person, is unfailingly professional and polite. If they are wearing a Virgin Atlantic uniform, you know that employee will be helpful, engaged and cheerful. Truly this airline is blessed with remarkable employees. The only other airline I can compare the staff interaction experience is Southwest. 

Arriving at Heathrow early for a little day drinking at Virgin’s Clubhouse lounge, after a quick check-in, we were escorted to the dedicated security line for Upper Class ticketholders. This perk has always seemed to me to be a bit superfluous. I’ve always wondered if it does represent a convenience at all. Our line seemed to move no faster than the rest of the security, and if anything, we were under even more scrutiny because there were a lot less of us.

The security staff are not Virgin employees, and they were taking a certain amount of delight in going through every single bag. I got into a bit of an argument with a security agent about whether my beard wax and toothpaste were a liquid. I guess if you heated them up to 150° they would turn into a liquid. This did not make for a very good experience overall.

Coming out of security you are thrown back into the haphazard melee of terminal three, and it’s quite a walk to get to the sanctuary of VA’s Clubhouse. Once inside though, things got considerably better.

The clubhouse had an amazing selection of food, but it was little things that set it apart. Having a dedicated area for luggage storage seems like such a no-brainer. Hopefully Delta has taken notice of their new partner’s ingenuity and will implement this in their already top-notch Sky Clubs.

The bar was fantastic and definitely tempted me into a gin and tonic way earlier than I normally partake. And once again top-notch staff was there to attend to your drink order. There were also enough bartenders there to keep up with the amount of passengers in the lounge that almost never happens in any other lounge.

I’ve been in nearly empty sky clubs and have had one bartender seem completely overwhelmed. Virgin Atlantic had cordoned off an area of the yellow lounge for the press and as such I didn’t really get to experience the lounge fully. But what I did see was truly impressive.

Boarding Our Aircraft

Getting my first close-up look at Red Velvet, G-VLUX, gave me the same impression the first time I boarded a 777-300ER, it’s that impressive of an aircraft. Walking down the jetway, the anticipation built as I got closer. Stepping across the threshold, and turning to the left, one was left with a sense of occasion and awe. This cabin was lovely.

The intersection of surfaces and materials was impeccable. We all know that these seats are mostly plastic and a bit of metal here and there, but Virgin has managed to elevate those materials somehow. Running your hand across plastic surfaces somehow did not feel plastic, they felt like how a nice pair of eyeglass frames would feel. The slightly off rose colored gold, red and a beautiful mocha leather, came together in a way seldom seen in a J class product.

The amenity kit was refined and efficient, it was nice to see that sustainable products were used throughout. Going through it, one is amazed at how thorough they were in making sure that sustainable materials were used, and one comes away with the impression that Virgin will be the first airline to offer and à la carte amenity kit system. Either ordering what you want ahead of time or ordering it from your seat. Waste not want not.

New Semi-private Suite Configuration for Upper Class

In the A350-1000, the Upper Class has a lot of business class seats: 44 in total, which is near the top of the heap for any class of aircraft.  It is a 1-2-1 configuration. Virgins old Upper Class was in an inward facing herringbone configuration. That configuration can sometimes lead to uncomfortable moments of having another passenger’s feet right next to your meal tray, which happened to me on my flight to Heathrow on the 787.

Not only are you not having to experience your neighbor’s feet, but the outer seats in the configuration face the window, instead of the aisle, allowing for a much more peaceful and palatable experience. This is a big improvement on the original herringbone configuration.  

The new Upper Class installed on the A350-1000 is a semi-private suite.  The seat is a comfortable 20 inches wide and the pitch is 44 inches. The walls of each seat are higher than the standard walls on Upper Class seats, and a small pocket door in the seat partially closes.  

This gives some sense of privacy, I felt like it didn’t really add too much to the overall experience not quite the same thing as Deltas one product.  For those of you who might be bigger in size, however, it does make a challenge for getting out of the seat without having to grab onto the Upper Class seat immediately in front of you.

The seats themselves are comfortable and convert to an 82 inch flat bed quite easily and each comes with a full-size pillow and a duvet. You can even pre-order personalized PJs for your snoozing pleasure.

The big problem with these new seats, is the fact that the tray tables were designed incorrectly. This is not merely a matter of not accounting for the size of larger customers, this was a CAD design modeling failure. Folding down the tray goes directly into my stomach I have to push it away and eat at an awkward angle. When I first used it I thought maybe I had not use the mechanism itself properly, but as I was looking around there were quite a few puzzled faces. Even people who were height weight proportionate, were having difficulty with the set up.

Virgin Atlantic is well aware of it, and plans to have a fix that will only take ½ hour per seat to rectify. The engineer on board said that these modifications will not require any cutting of the plastic, and that it is a mechanism that will be easily changed out and will not require the aircraft to be pulled out of service it can be done overnight. I was told that all the aircraft will be refitted by October. Other than that the seat was beautiful and quite comfortable.

Catering

Being that this was essentially a press flight, the cabin was barely contained mayhem. You get a bunch of us airline geeks together, and we are going to walk around and compare notes and reconnect. The cabin crew under those conditions had their work cut out for them. But once again, they never fail to impress with how deftly they handled meal service. I had actually ordered two mains. Edward was too good to me.

I had the Louisiana crabcakes and the Herefordshire short ribs. The crabcakes were just okay, they did not taste at all fresh. I’m from Seattle where we consider the Dungeness crab as almost a pest. Were pretty spoiled up here. The short ribs however were impeccably brazed and seasoned. I had a heckuva time cooking them myself, and I am always impressed when an airline can execute them.

I opted out of dessert, but a few hours later, I did start to get a bit of a craving for something sweet. No sooner did I start to think about that, then pastry chef Eric Lanlard came by with a beautiful box of goodies that looked right out of a Wes Anderson movie. Inside this work of art, was an amazing chocolate and salted caramel éclair and a red velvet macaron. Needless to say, I saved the box.

The Loft

Beckoning back to the time when wide bodies in the ‘70s had small lounges that passengers could congregate in, Virgin’s A350-1000 has launched The Loft, replacing its signature previous generation sit-down bar.  The space is intended as an exclusive gathering place for Upper Class passengers. The space is heavily illuminated by Virgin’s vibrant color palette enhancing the already exclusive feel of Upper Class.

The seats boast seatbelts, allowing it to remain occupied during turbulence. It has a laid back, but elegant atmosphere, and it also has enough room in it to where it’s not just simply a marketing gimmick. The space works as intended because there is enough room for people to socialize. This would be a wonderful product to go Heathrow to Hong Kong or New Zealand. This is a space that people will remember.

In-flight Entertainment System

True to its Virgin roots, the IFE was quite impressive. Each private suite has a 18.5 inch touch screen.  Gone is the remote chained to an armrest.  Instead, passengers can hook their own smart devices up to the plane’s IFE using Bluetooth and control their entertainment from the comfort of their own phone or device.  The IFE has several convenient features, including being able to order food or snacks on demand.  

Our flight was plagued with technical glitches. Most of iOS users seem to have few problems, but android phones were mostly not connecting. The Wi-Fi was also a little finicky, but then again that’s true for every carrier right now.

Premium Economy and Economy Cabin

Virgin Atlantic pioneered the premium economy product, and they have certainly always been ahead of the curve regarding comfort and introducing features other than just increased legroom. While most PE cabins are small 3-4 row affairs, Virgin’s 7 row PE cabin on the A350 is equipped with 56 seats.

Once again, the color palette is used to great effect in this section. It looks warm and luxurious and the Collins MiQ leather seats are extremely comfortable and wide at 18.5”. 

In the A350, the 2-4-2 layout takes advantage of the extra 5 inches that it has over the 787. This is a really great alternative to Upper Class. The perks that go along with the seats make the price quite a value. 

The rear of the cabin has two classes of economy, Economy Delight and Economy Classic. Economy classic comes in it 31 inches of seat pitch and 17 inches of width. Economy delight comes in at an additional 3 inches of pitch, but more importantly, delight offers priority check-in and boarding.

The Service and the Crew

I can’t say enough for the cabin crew of this flight, and every Virgin Atlantic flight I’ve taken, these employees are top-notch. They strike a delicate balance between friendly and cheerful without being intrusive and annoying. As I’ve said in my previous reviews, I find that someone who’s overly chatty or friendly can be just as bad as a crew member that is reserved and aloof.

Flying on the 787 from Seattle to Heathrow and then the A350 from Heathrow to New York, I was amazed at how many of the crew members had been with the airline for at least 10 to 20 years. I remember Richard Branson years ago saying that people should not make a career out of being flight attendants. I’m so glad that most of the cabin has not taken their founders advice.

These people are some of the best flight professionals I’ve ever come across. And that’s including Singapore and Korean. My buzz never had a chance to waiver, as my gin and tonics were filled quickly and with a smile.

The Realities That Lie Ahead

It’s somewhat charitable to call Virgin a boutique airline. Let’s just be truthful and say this is an airline that is small. It’s had a couple of opportunities at attempting to be bigger and become the second flag carrier at Heathrow. These attempts have come to little or nothing. This time feels different.

There are external events that need to occur, such as the completion of the third runway, and an equitable allocation of slots in the future. British Airways and IAG may not be as glamorous as Virgin, but they are smart, and they use their size to a devastating effect. Have no illusions, Virgin Atlantic is going to have to work very hard to be taken seriously in the marketplace. They don’t have a lot of time to reestablish themselves at a larger Heathrow.

If there is a time that this airline could become the second flag carrier, the time is now. The partnership with Delta looks to be beneficial for Virgin, and one hopes that Delta can assist Virgin in developing the acquisition of flybe into a more successful feeder product than Virgin Atlantic’s narrow body product was. They desperately need a narrow body network that is bigger and more efficient. It will be interesting to see if they upgrade flybe’s equipment.

Plans for the Future

We were all wondering what was going to happen after Delta purchased a 49% stake. Well as of the last two weeks, we have found out that Virgin Atlantic’s plans are ambitious to say the least. Virgin is going to increase frequency of its Los Angeles to Heathrow service to 17 flights a week, that’s up from 14. Seattle will see an increase to 11 from seven flights a week Boston will also become more of a focus city. This all dovetails perfectly with Delta’s increase in service. Their return to Gatwick and increasing frequencies to Manchester and Heathrow will work out quite nicely for both carriers.

Virgin’s plans for 84 destinations by 2026 seem overly ambitious. This plan is contingent on Virgin getting a huge number of slots at Heathrow well over 100. Obviously, Air France/ KLM in acquiring a 31% stake, shows that they are confident that at least some of this will happen. If Virgin Atlantic is successful in its plans, it will mean big things at Heathrow for SkyTeam. 

Virgin Atlantic has a lot to overcome to even get half of what it’s asking for, a lot of analysts feel that the contingencies for their route expansion being implemented is unrealistic at best. They are going to require a great deal of funding in the coming years to acquire additional aircraft. It will be interesting to see if this works out to be the beginnings of a counterbalance to IAG.

SkyTeam will have to realize that a huge amount of capital investment is going to be required on something that may not pan out fully. In the short term, Virgin Atlantic’s code share with Brazilian powerhouse GOL, is going to give them access to a lot of South America.

The Hardware

Virgin Atlantic is a small airline by any standard. As of right now they have 47 aircraft in the fleet and when the 747s in the A340s leave as the A350s come online that will actually represent a decrease in capacity. The real question regarding equipment is what is to become of the 787s and how will virgin proceed with upgrading these five-year-old aircraft. The problem with having a brand-new upper-class interior in just 12 of your aircraft so far is that you create the sense that there are two distinct airlines at work under one name. The 787 experience versus the A350 experience is day and night.

The current word is that the 787 is under review. Personally, I can’t see them getting rid of the much-needed capacity, but if they are in a position to take more A330 Neo’s and a few more A350s I could see the 787’s being gradually phased out. I believe the A330neo is a purchase that obviously dovetails quite well with Delta’s fleet plans as they both fly the A350 and the A330 Neo. They are both excellent aircraft and there’s no real advantage in keeping the 787’s.

The A350-1000 will also offer a huge revenue stream regarding palletized cargo and the A330 fleet will offer a commonality and a flexibility that the 787’s do not. The A350s will be bifurcated into two subtypes. There’ll be the standard A350 that we flew on and then a high-density leisure market model. These aircraft are going to be deployed on Gatwick to Florida and other Caribbean destinations. One can’t help but think that if this aircraft is successful, that more will be needed.

Also, let’s not forget that the A340-600 is still very much a part of the fleet! This old war horse has been put out to pasture once already, only to be brought back out of storage and back into service.

The Rolls-Royce engine debacle continues to throw a lot of airlines and turmoil. And it has created new business for supplemental airlines like high fly and has cost all Nippon and Virgin Atlantic a considerable amount money. What kind of compensation virgin will get, it will be interesting indeed. Maybe a few A330neos?

It will also be interesting to see how much longer the A340 will soldier on. That is a final flight that I want to be on.

Featured/All images: Author