I'm Leavin' On A Unicorn Chaser, Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again...

Things are getting a bit weirder than usual along the west coast of the United States.

Upstart low-cost carrier Virgin America announced the results Friday of its poll of would-be customers, to suggest names for eight of its first Airbus A320s to fly out of its base at San Francisco International.

The San Jose Mercury News reports the names chosen are... drum roll please... Airplane 2.0, An Airplane Name Desire, Contents May Be Under Pressure, Fog Cutter, Jane (yep, just "Jane"), Mach Daddy, Virgin & Tonic, and the aptly-named Winner Of Naming Contest.

If you think that's weird, consider two additional names chosen by the editors of blog site boingboing.net -- Unicorn Chaser and Chic Mobile.

All are notable departures from the groovy -- but, in this company, somewhat uninspired -- moniker bestowed on the carrier's first plane: Jefferson Airplane, in honor of the San Francisco-based rock group fronted by Grace Slick, who named the plane.

As ANN reported, Virgin America received final launch approval from the Department of Transportation in May, after a lengthy debate over ownership and interest in the American-controlled airline. Virgin significantly reconfigured its ownership and management structure to meet strict US citizenship tests under federal law. (Which leads to our naming suggestion: "They Fought The DOT For This?" -- Ed.)

In a statement that puts this entire story in its proper perspective, the Mercury News notes -- tongue firmly in cheek -- the announcement provides "both boingboing and Virgin America free publicity on a very slow news day (at least for those of us writing about anything other than Paris Hilton)."

Say... that'd be a cool name for a plane, wouldn't it? Wait, it's already taken by that hotel in France...

FMI: www.virginamerica.com, www.nameourplanes.com, www.boingboing.net