"We'll Make Him The Best-Paid Pilot At Virgin"

No stranger to the art of self-promotion, Sir Richard Branson has found a way to capitalize on the recent hoopla surrounding last month's ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in New York's Hudson River.

The Los Angeles Times (well, the Times' Entertainment blog -- Ed.) reports the "kabillionaire" Branson recently made a very public offer to have Captain Chesley "Sully Sullenberger (above) fly for Virgin Atlantic, Branson's flagship airline.

"I'd like him to come fly for us," Branson told a reporter with the New York Daily News. "We'll make him the best-paid pilot at Virgin -- we'll give him double anybody else. He also can become one of the astronauts in my intergalactic spaceship company. The man can write his own ticket with me."

Branson spoke in apparent awe of Sullenberger's skill in guiding his stricken Airbus A320 to a textbook water landing that saved all 155 people onboard. "Every single thing he could have done right, he did right -- from the second he made that decision not to go to that local airport, to put the plane down in the water, to the way he looked after everybody."

For his part, Sullenberger has largely avoided the media spotlight cast upon him, and his flight crew. Besides granting CBS News an exclusive interview (coming later this week) "Sully" has made only a handful of public appearances. On Sunday, he and his flight crew received a thunderous ovation during the pregame festivities at the Super Bowl in Tampa, FL.

That apparent humility doesn't mean the US Airways Captain doesn't appreciate a lucrative job offer when he hears it, however. When told of Branson's offer, Sullenberger reported said, "That's amazing... I hadn't heard that. I will be happy to entertain all the things that are coming my way."

Given Branson's past antics, it's really not very surprising he made his offer to Sullenberger... though it is somewhat surprising it took him nearly three weeks to do it...

FMI: www.virginatlantic.com, www.usairways.com