Virgin America lands in Chicago with signature style

Virgin territory: Chicago is the newest destination for Virgin America, which launches O'Hare service on May 25.

By Mark Chesnut

Starting today, travelers flying between Chicago and the west coast will have a new choice in the air, as Virgin America debuts at O’Hare International Airport with daily nonstop flights to both Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.

The new service is a long time coming. Virgin America first announced plans to serve O’Hare in 2008, but had to delay the debut because there were no gates available. Now that the company has the gate space (L3, to be exact), they promise that the experience both on the ground and in the air will reflect the overall style of the airline, which is based in California but carries the well-recognized Virgin brand founded by Sir Richard Branson. So you can expect mood-lit cabins, power outlets near every seat and seatback entertainment systems.

Virgin America officials are predicting the new competition will be healthy for the Windy City. “With legacy airlines representing 98 percent of domestic departures at ORD [O’Hare], we hope to inject some healthy competition into the market,” said Virgin America spokesperson Abby Lunardini. “When we enter a new city, we often see fares drop by as much as one third as competition heats up.”

Virgin America’s affiliated brands —  which are separate companies based outside the United States —  have been making their own news as well. In May, U.K.-based Virgin Atlantic resumed its seasonal service linking O’Hare with London. And Australia-based Virgin Blue recently dropped the word “Blue” from its title and relaunched itself as Virgin Australia, as the carrier spends a reported $35 million to go after lucrative business travelers with new cabins, livery, uniforms and a revamped frequent flyer program.

Related resources

• Cheap Chicago flights
• Cheap Los Angeles flights
• Cheap San Francisco flights

Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on business and leisure travel to Latin America.

Tagged: Midwest