For our recent amazing West Coast vacation we flew a new carrier, Virgin America. They had just launched their US operations when we booked our tickets earlier this year. Virgin is the cheeky British company founded by Richard Branson. They are the folks who hope to launch -- literally -- space tourism through their company Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Atlantic is our family's first choice for trans-Atlantic flights. They offer premium coach service which features more comfortable seats and a few perks for not much more than regular coach. Virgin America is going to have the same option on domestic flights later this year.
Our flight to San Francisco was not remarkable. However on the trip from San Francisco to Seattle we noticed that the pilots on Virgin are more approachable than on other airlines. Before and after the flight one of the pilots was available at the front of the cabin to give the traditional pilot's spiel in person and he sounded like a normal human being, not just someone mumbling the stereotypical "we'll be cruising past the Grand Canyon at 10,000 feet" speech as on other airlines.
Because we had gate-checked my elderly father's walker we waited to get off the airplane until everyone else had exited. My son had asked me "how old do I have to be to drive the plane?" so I pointed out the pilot to my son as we started to leave. That's when he invited my boy to sit in the "driver's seat" and push some (hopefully non-functioning) buttons. He patiently explained several of the controls to my son and invited me to take a picture of this exciting moment.
I was pleasantly surprised by all the Virgin America staff members with whom we interacted, but the biggest surprise came just before our final flight on Virgin America. More on that tomorrow.
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