But Conditions Include His Removal From Airline

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has tentatively approved Virgin America's application to start a new US airline, finding the carrier is owned and controlled by U.S. citizens and is fit to operate as a domestic airline.

The DOT Order proposes that Virgin America finalize changes already offered by the company to address concerns about its citizenship, and to satisfy certain other pre-launch conditions.

"We worked very hard to address the Department's initial concerns, and are pleased that they have recognized our extensive work and good faith commitment to meet and exceed those requirements," said Virgin America CEO Fred Reid (shown at right). "We plan to meet with our shareholders immediately to address the Department's proposed conditions."

As Aero-News reported Tuesday, those conditions include the immediate removal of Reid as CEO, due to what the DOT considers to be his overly-close relationships with foreign investors, including Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson.

Virgin America said it hoped to receive final DOT approval in anticipation of a mid-summer launch from its base at San Francisco International Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. Four additional cities -- Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Washington D.C. -- are planned to be added within nine months of the company's first flight.

"Today's order puts us one giant step closer to flying," said Virgin America spokesman Gareth Edmondson-Jones. "We look forward to finally getting our wings -- it will be a huge win for our employees, investors, supporters, and the traveling public."

"We'd like to thank Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, Assistant Secretary Andy Steinberg, and the entire DOT team for tentatively finding us fit, a US citizen, and ready to fly. Once finalized, this decision will create more jobs, service, and competition for US travelers."

The company also expressed its appreciation to its key supporters in this process, especially San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Senator Diane Feinstein, and Senator John Ensign, San Francisco Bay Area businesses, the City of Burlingame and the tens of thousands of other supporters who used their website to voice their encouragement for the airline's "let VA fly" campaign.

Virgin America is also in the final stages of receiving approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the first new airline ever to be certified through the agency's new Air Transportation and Oversight System (ATOS) safety program -- the FAA's newest and most advanced safety surveillance program. The airline finished its formal FAA safety evaluation in December 2006, and FAA officials commented that it was "the best certification they had seen in 25 years."

Virgin America plans to launch domestic US scheduled airline service this summer, utilizing Airbus A319/A320 aircraft (some of which the airline will now have to callback, after leasing them out to other carriers.) The company has firm orders for 33 new aircraft including 18 aircraft purchased from Airbus and 15 aircraft leased from General Electric Capital Aviation Services.

The airline's principal hub will be San Francisco International Airport.

FMI: www.virginamerica.com, www.dot.gov