The fight for Virgin territory

摘要

You could forgive Airbus and Boeing for being sceptical if someone called up and said that they were looking for 33 new aircraft, with options for 70 more - and it would not be unreasonable for them to ask the caller to show their operating certificate and evidence that they could finance this number of aircraft before discussing terms. However, if you are Richard Branson you have none of these problems. Even though his planned airline has neither funding nor an operating certificate both manufacturers were happy to compete for his business. After running Virgin Atlantic for 20 years and - perhaps more importantly - the success of Virgin Blue in Australia, Branson's record is all he needs to help fulfil his long held plan of launching a domestic US carrier. Branson had in fact been talking with both manufacturers for over two years, with Fred Reid, the startup's CEO and a former COO of Delta, joining in negotiations when he started at the carrier in the spring. Virgin America plans to start flying in 2005 from a San Francisco hub and, while some analysts are not confident that the carrier will be successful in the competitive US market, both manufacturers appear to believe in the airline's business plan. Airbus and Boeing both fought hard, with Airbus keen to keep winning low-cost orders - following deals with Spirit, JetStar, JetBlue and easyJet - and Boeing keen to retain market share.