Letter to Bay Area Delegation From Region

Dear Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer, Speaker Pelosi, Representative Eschoo, Representative Miller, Representative Lantos, Representative Honda, Representative Lofgren, Representative Tauscher, and others?

We are writing to seek your assistance with the Department of Transportation's final review and hopefully their approval of Virgin America's application to begin operations as our home town and home state airline.  We strongly feel that Virgin America's application to fly should be granted for the following reasons.

1.  Virgin America is good for San Francisco, the Bay Area, and the country as a whole:

• By the end of Virgin America’s second year of flying Bay Area travelers will save $402 million dollars annually; San Francisco residents will realize $187 million of those savings.
• San Francisco residents will save an average of $110 per round trip once Virgin America starts flying.
• Virgin America flights will bring 1.7 million new visitors to San Francisco on an annual basis by the end of its second year of flying.
• The tragic events and aftermath of 9/11 as well as the loss of low fare competition at SFO airport has led to a major underutilization of this major airport, a decline in aviation traffic, a loss of over 10,000 jobs in the Bay Area and SFO experiencing a decline of approx 25% of the number of passengers using the airport for their air service needs.
• SFO is a world class airport that is heavily underutilized and needs an airline that will truly call it home. California is the most populous state in the union, has the 6th largest economy in the world and has no airline to call its own.  Virgin America is that airline!
• A study conducted by the Bay Area Economic Forum determined that at 20 flights per day, a number Virgin America will exceed within its first year of operation, will produce approximately $300 million in annual wage and salary income and approx. $500 million in annual business revenues.
• With the market potential of the Bay area combined with airport facilities at SFO which offer unrivaled growth opportunities 300 flights per day and 30000 employees within the next 10 years are well within the airline’s potential.
• Using the AFL-CIO job multiplier, every new airline job generates 10-12 indirect jobs; thus, Virgin America will ultimately create 50,000 new jobs throughout the United States by their 5th year of operation

2.  The Bay Area is the beacon of innovation, competition, and success in the United States and Virgin America is cut from the same cloth of many of the areas high tech businesses.

• Our country has always been the beacon for free market forces and a competitive market place with a premium put on innovation and creativity.  Virgin America and its employees exemplify this spirit and are they are following in the footsteps of many other like-minded San Francisco, Bay, and Silicon Valley companies.
• Virgin America has already demonstrated it will be an excellent neighbor by developing relationships with Bay Area companies and suppliers.  We want them to succeed and become even more active in the community.

3.  Virgin America is not anti-employee or anti-union.

• The perception of Virgin America as anti-union or anti-employee has no basis in fact.  Virgin America is already known for its employee friendly environment, and the company has also demonstrated that it is paying competitive wages and offering competitive retirement and health care benefits.  In addition, s you know, all airlines are governed by the Railway Labor Act.  Under this law, it is the workers choice if they wish to be represented by a union, and they also get to choose which union that will be.  It defies logic to not support this Airline and to deny the many laid off aviation workers in the Bay Area a new employment opportunity.

4.  Virgin America is ready to fly and has demonstrated it can and should be approved by the DOT.

• Virgin America received FAA approval for their ability to operate a safe and efficient airline in record time and the highest certification standard ever established by the Federal Aviation Authority.
• Virgin America’s response to the Department of Transportation is more than adequate to alleviate the stated concerns regarding the ownership and control. 

5.  Supporting Virgin America is the right thing to do.

• Denying business and leisure travelers more competition and the right to choose an incredibly attractive travel experience at a lower price point is anti-business and anti-consumer.  Denying out of work airline employees is anti-worker.
• Virgin America is good for the United States; it’s good for California and is good for the Bay area.

For these and a myriad of other reasons, we appeal to you in the most urgent manner to join the thousands of consumers, employees, potential employees, business and civic leaders in making a direct appeal to the Department of Transportation to press for their swift approval of Virgin America’s application to be our home town airline.

Sincerely,

On The Net:

Virgin America: http://www.virginamerica.com