Virgin America: a hit that is losing money

One of America’s favorite Airlines is struggling financially. Virgin Airlines regularly shows up at or near the top of most surveys and awards for best airline in the U.S. Unfortunately for Virgin America, it is far from the best at making money.

Take a quick glance at its website and you will find a long list of travel awards it has won since starting its operations in 2007. In a time where airlines are pushing for more fees and fewer perks, Virgin America stands out for its high marks in style, comfort, and service. Virgin America has stylish aircraft interior designs, great in-flight technology, and a young and energetic staff that provides world class service.

With all of the pros mentioned above, it is hard to imagine that a company that is so well liked would not be one of the most profitable airlines. Sadly, this is not the case. In the first quarter of this year alone, Virgin America posted a $49 million loss. In its five years of operation, Virgin America has recorded a net loss of $671.3 million.

There are a number of reasons for these losses. First of all, Virgin America is still in its infancy and does not have a large network of routes. This makes it difficult to attract business travelers to fly Virgin America. While it is not able to attract many business travelers, it also struggles to attract the leisure traveler. Low price tends to be one of the most important factors to leisure travelers. Since Virgin America offers a premium product (leather seats, live TV, in-flight Wi-Fi, etc.), its flights aren’t as cheap as low cost carriers such as Southwest and Alaska Airlines.

Virgin America continues to be a loved Airline by many. If it can bring its financials in line with its exemplary style, innovation, and service, it can become a very successful Airline. Virgin America just received $150 million in funding from investors and it expects 2012 to be the company’s first profitable year. Virgin America will be an interesting airline to keep an eye on to see if it can become a profitable company.

Flying Egypt Airlines?

If you are thinking about flying Egypt Air any time soon, you may want to weigh all your options before you book that ticket.

Being a Star Alliance carrier, I was very surprised with the provided service on Egypt Air. Let’s start with food and drinks. The food provided tasted as if it had been left out in the sun for days and was not very appetizing. Egypt Air is also a dry airline, so if you are hoping to indulge in a midflight drink you will be out of luck.

With their food and drinks services leaving much to be desired, you would think they would make up for this with comfort and other amenities. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The seats were very outdated and not very comfortable (keep in mind I was sitting in Business Class, not economy!). The Club Lounge had cockroaches crawling around and the bathrooms were also quite dirty. Furthermore, they even have a very poor on-time arrival rate compared to most other airlines.

Are you sitting there wondering how Egypt Air can continue to fill flights with this kind of service, or lack thereof? There is one category which helps them compete with other airlines: price. They can offer a flight up to 65% cheaper than any other Star Alliance carrier for the same route.

So next time you are considering an Egypt Air flight, you might want to take these things into consideration. What is truly important to you? If it is finding the cheapest price then Egypt Airlines may be right for you. If comfort, service, amenities, and arriving on time are high on your importance list then you may want to think carefully about your decision.

Best Major Airlines for Business Travel

Business Travel News publishes annual rankings of the major airlines for business travel, which can be telling signs of on airline's overall quality for travelers. This year's results are based on a poll of 406 travel managers and buyers who spend at least $500,000 a year on flights booked in the United States. The rankings only include the five largest domestic airlines.

Here are the 5 ranked from best to worst according to BTN's airline score, which is comprised of data gathered from 10 different categories:

1. Delta Airlines*
BTN airline score: 3.14

2. United Airlines/ Continental
BTN airline score: 3.12

3. US Airways
BTN airline score: 3.07

4. American Airlines
BTN airline score: 2.94

5. Southwest
BTN airline score: 2.9


*This is Delta's first time at the number one spot.

For a more detailed report of this information, see this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44876792/ns/business-us_business/

Travel Survey: Business vs. Leisure

A recent survey conducted by Travel Leaders, titled Fall Travel Trends, helps to demonstrate the nuances between the approaches, concerns, and grievances expressed by business and leisure travelers. The survey results were gathered from 443 travel experts- owners, agents, and managers from various Travel Leaders agencies, 170 of which operate primarily in the business travel market- between August 1 and 19 of 2011. While there are certainly many aspects of airport and airline methodology that is cumbersome for even the most seasoned traveler to have to consistently confront, there a few areas in which both the busy business traveler and leisurely pleasure-seeking traveler find to be particularly trying. Here are just a couple of the most intriguing questions and survey responses.

Results were varied, but overall similar among business and leisure travel experts when asked "Which TSA security measure would you most like to eliminate?"

Business Travel Expert Responses:
27.7% Shoe Removal
27.7% 3-1-1, Limiting Liquids on Carry-on Bags
24.7% Extensive Patdown
10.0% Full-body Scanner
5.9% Laptop Removal

Leisure Travel Expert Responses:
32.0% Extensive Patdown
30.4% 3-1-1, Limiting Liquids on Carry-on Bags
23.3% Shoe Removal
6.2% Full-body Scanner
3.9% None, Safety First

Observations of this question's results: the grievances of each group vary based upon the general purpose of the traveler's trip. For example, far more business travel experts expressed a disdain for security measures that impede on airport security speed. 4.4% more business travel experts ranked shoe removal as the most unwanted TSA security measure and 5.9% selected laptop removal as the most unwanted measure compared to a negligible amount of leisure travel experts. Leisure travel experts were interestingly more apt to pick extensive patdowns (a substantial 7.3% more than business) and carry-on liquids limitations as unwanted, but a small percentage, 3.9%, also remarked that there was no security measure too time-consuming or obtrusive, as safety should be the number one concern of air travelers.

Another interesting question posed was "What is the most common action taken by your clients to avoid or limit airline baggage fees?"

An overwhelming proportion of respondents seemed to have the same initial cost-saving reaction, but the make-up of the secondary responses is quite varied.

Business Travel Experts:
51.2% Traveling with Carry-on Baggage Only
26.5% Flying on an Airline where the Traveler has Elite Status
17.1% Flying on an Airline the doesn't Charge Baggage Fees for the First Bag
2.9% Checking Baggage once On-Board the Plane
2.4% Paying with Airline Branded Credit Card

Leisure Travel Experts:
60.9% Traveling with Carry-on Baggage Only
22.2% Flying on an Airline the doesn't Charge Baggage Fees for the First Bag
8.1% Flying on an Airline where the Traveler has Elite Status
6.8% Paying with Airline Branded Credit Card
1.6% Checking Baggage once On-Board the Plane

What I find most interesting about this data is that while the majority of both groups were keen to saving money by only traveling with free carry-on baggage, far more business travel experts (18.4% more) were reliant upon the traveler's elite status with an airline to avoid increasingly costly checked baggage fees. This is strong evidence that frequent business travelers are willing to maintain loyalty to an airline or allied group of carriers due to the cost-saving perks that accompany being a frequent passenger. The leisure travel group made up for this vast percentage by opting for a combination of free carry-on baggage, flying with a carrier that allows one free checked bag, and somewhat curiously, paying with an airline branded credit card (2.83 times more leisure travelers did this than business travelers).