Citing Delays In Aircraft Delivery Schedule, No Mouse For VA Until October

Virgin America will postpone its start of service to Orlando International Airport (MCO) due to delays in the airline's aircraft delivery schedule, the airline announced Wednesday. Due to an unexpected delay in its aircraft delivery schedule, Virgin America will postpone its start of service to MCO until at least October 2010. In the coming weeks, the airline will release a new MCO start date in the fourth quarter of 2010 - at which time guests will again be able to book Orlando tickets via Virgin America's website and call center.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this delay has caused to our Orlando guests. Although an unforeseen delay in our aircraft delivery schedule has forced us to postpone our launch date, we still intend to bring ... service to Orlando before the end of this year," said Diana Walke, Vice President of Planning and Sales at Virgin America. "Orlando is an important year-round travel market for us and we look forward to adding the city as a new destination later in 2010."

The airline previously announced that it would launch daily nonstop flights from both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to MCO beginning August 19, 2010.

Orlando passengers impacted by this delay will be refunded and contacted by Virgin America Reservations.

Virgin America says it still expects to take delivery of six additional aircraft in 2010. By this time next year, the airline expects that its fleet will have grown by almost one-third. In addition to Orlando and Toronto, Virgin America intends to launch at least three more new destinations in 2010.

FMI: www.virginamerica.com