Posted by: thepinetree on 06/30/2010 09:54 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 06/30/2010 09:56 AM
Expires: 01/01/2015 12:00 AM
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Governor Schwarzenegger Joins Sir Richard Branson to Celebrate Virgin America’s First International Destination
San Francisco, CA...MR. McCARRON: Good morning and welcome to San Francisco International Airport. It's a great day, eh, to be here flying to Toronto. My name is Mike McCarron; I'm the Director of Community Affairs here. It's my great pleasure, on behalf of the Airport Commission and the Airport Director Mr. John Martin, to welcome all of you today to this very special day. We're very excited that Virgin America, which just less than three years ago was just an idea, continues to expand and grow and really set a foot here in the Bay Area, has really grown from that small footprint just three years ago...
This growth is possible because of a partnership between the airport and a lot of people and organizations. One of the great organizations we partner with at the airport is the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. It's my great pleasure to introduce the director of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mr. Joe D'Alessandro. (Applause)
MR. D'ALESSANDRO:
Thank you and good morning. What a great day this is. I'd like to recognize Charlotte Schultz here on the podium -- it's always great to see you. Governor, Sir Richard, Mayor Newsom, David -- a great audience for a great day to start a new service.
It was three years ago on August 7th that Virgin America first took off out of San Francisco and really changed the airline industry in this country. And it's the only airline based in San Francisco, which is something that we're very, very proud of. The only airline based in California, as a matter of fact.
And what they've done since they started almost three years ago has really changed the way people fly and put the fun back in flying again and making the travel experience part of the whole thing and part of what makes travel so fun and so good. And it's helping San Francisco's economy, it's helping California's economy.
And today it's the first international flight for Virgin America and that's a great step forward. We congratulate Virgin America, we look forward to the partnership and look forward to long-term success for both Virgin America and California. Thank you very much. (Applause)
MR. McCARRON:
About five years ago when the idea of Virgin America started, the airport wanted to be the home base for that airline. We went to Sacramento to the Governor's Office and they were behind us 110 percent. It's my great honor and privilege to present the Governor of the great state of California, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause)
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:
Well, thank you very much for the nice introduction. And I want to say also thank you to David Cush and Sir Richard Branson, my very good friend, for being here today and Mayor Newsom and Charlotte Schultz, our Chief of Protocol that is running the mayor's life and mine all at the same time.
And this was really exciting, to fly up here. And let me tell you, I just want to say that five years ago this idea began and I've been very happy to have been helpful in making sure that the hub for Virgin America comes to San Francisco and to California. It was a long battle, it was a big battle -- we just talked about it on the way up here-- it was not easy but we got it done.
And this has been such a great contribution to the state of California, if it comes to job creation, bringing business to California, bringing this airline to California, the only one and really helping us with the revenues. We just have heard that there will be job creation over the next three years, 500 jobs a year over the next three years, so this is really extraordinary.
And, of course, I have to say that now to announce and to celebrate the first international destination, to fly to Canada, to Toronto, that is also really a great, great expansion of the business here. And to expand this, the airline business, or any business during an economic downturn, is a real challenge, let me tell you. And so I want to congratulate Sir Richard Branson for his audacity and for his great vision and for being such a great, great business leader and having confidence in the state of California to expand this airline here and to fly now to other destinations. And he will make some other announcements afterwards, because this is just the beginning.
And what I also like about it is that the plane, his airplanes, are the most modern airplanes and the most sophisticated airplanes and the most energy efficient airplanes. And that is very important. We are talking here about this airline consistently flies with 25 percent less fuel; that means greenhouse gas reductions by 25 percent. So this is quite an accomplishment and it shows that you can be successful in business and also be successful in protecting the environment, so they really make a great contribution.
And at the same time, I have to say that I'm a big fan of this airline business in the first place. I think this is where the future is. They're expanding; they're building right now 50 new airplanes all that are more energy efficient. So I want to say thank you again for your great contributions that you make. Let's give him a big, big hand.
Thank you very much. Now I would like to bring out Sir Richard Branson to go and to say a few words about his vision. Thank you. (Applause)
SIR BRANSON:
Well, it's a great honor to have Governor Schwarzenegger fly with us today. It's a great honor to be met by Mayor Newsom, both of whom have done an enormous amount in trying to help get Virgin America established. We had many battles. Many of the big carriers, for some reason or other, didn't want to see us get established here in America. You know, fortunately -- and see, they even get somebody to speak over me when I'm talking. (Laughter)
So anyway, it was great that we finally got all the permissions sorted and Virgin America is up and running. And it's achieved incredible things; I think this year it was voted Best Airline in America, it's been voted Best Business Airline in America. And that's down to the 2,000 wonderful staff, both on the ground and in the air, that make Virgin America so special.
Today is a great day, the first international route to Canada. We're looking forward to one hell of a party tonight in Canada to celebrate. And I think I can also announce that we'll be doing our second international route later on this year to one or two Mexican cities as well. So this is just the beginning, (Applause) the beginning of a big expansion program. And I can't steal Virgin America's big announcement later on this year but there is a very big announcement about lots more cities to be flown to but that will come later on in the year.
Anyway, I just want to say thank you very much for coming. And thank you very much for getting up so early, sir and everybody else for getting up so early today and I look forward to seeing a lot of you on board in a few minutes. Thank you. Who's speaking next? (Applause)
MR. CUSH:
Thanks, Richard. Good to see you.
SIR BRANSON:
Lovely to see you, too.
MR. CUSH:
I'll just make a couple of other comments. It was one of the best decisions ever made to locate our airline in the Bay Area. A lot of people at the time were thinking, why are you locating an airline in such a high-cost area with an airport that is prone to weather delays and things like that? Well, very simply, it's paid off because of the environment we're in. And by the environment, I mean the environment of innovation, the environment of free thinking and the environment of creativity. And that's really what's allowed us to go in and do something very different than what's been done in the airline business.
We have 1,600 teammates after less than three years. We'll be adding over 1,000 in the next 18 months and 500 per year for the next several years after that. As was announced earlier today en route, we will be starting new service into Mexico from both San Francisco and Los Angeles into Cancun and from San Francisco into Cabo, so it will be a nice place to go down and warm your bones during the cold winter.
And this is really a testament to the great teammates of Virgin America -- and I know there are some around here and thank you for the work you've done (Applause) and the great service you provide. And of course to our guests, who keep coming back and spending their hard-earned money.
So we're going to do more great things here. I appreciate everything that the Governor did and everything that the Mayor did and has done in order to support our airline.
And with that, I think I will hand it over to the Mayor. Thank you very much. (Applause)
MAYOR NEWSOM:
Thanks, Dave. Thanks, you guys. Well, welcome, everybody and welcome back, Richard.
I think it was three years ago -- and who would have thought, in the midst of the biggest economic downturn, at least in my lifetime, one of the biggest in the nation's history, that this airport would continue to outperform every other big city airport in the United States of America? (Applause) You know, this is amazing. In 2009 -- in 2009 we saw an increase in passenger volume here at the San Francisco International Airport.
At a time when people are contracting, not expanding, we're expanding -- a $383 million new terminal, we call it Terminal 2, which will be LEED Silver, one of the greenest expansions of any airport in the United States of America. We're going to have a slow-food pavilion, a farmer's market. All of these values -- that everyone loves to mock us about -- are being put together in this unique and extraordinary environment and playing so well to what the Governor just mentioned and that are the values of Virgin, which is the value of sustainability, a long-term business strategy, a long-term branding strategy, a strategy that supports the environment as they support an innovative and more spirited approach to the governance of an airline and an industry that needs a new spirit and an entrepreneurial approach.
And I'm very proud of their success; Richard, your extraordinary accomplishments and David, in the last three years in helping us meet these milestones. You know, you brought in competition and, I believe this to the core of my bones, competition is good. Competition is really good from the customer perspective. We've seen average fares for similar types of routes drop almost one-third since Virgin has come to San Francisco. You brought Jet Blue in because they didn't want to be over in Oakland. You brought Southwest in because they didn’t want to be left out either. And that's been a big part, again, of the renaissance and growth of this airport and, I think, bringing back some energy into this airline industry.
And so congratulations to Richard. David, congratulations for you stewardship. To the staff at the airport, keep up the great work. To the ubiquitous teammates, or team members of Virgin, you are everywhere. Every week -- Andrew, I don't know if you know this -- you guys are in my office getting photographs, you're doing these treasure hunts -- everywhere there's a cable car there are Virgin people there. On top of the, I don't know, Coit Tower, there are Virgins doing rope things off the side. And you know, I'm going to wake up one day to a 747 with the Virgin logo on it going under the Golden Gate Bridge, knowing the way these guys operate. Charlotte has been encouraging that -- the Governor is not so convinced, nor is Homeland Security. (Laughter) But anyway, thank you all for being out here. Congratulations and we're really proud of the partnership.
One final, final point; this is about jobs. And when we say jobs, don't just listen to what they just said. It's not just 1,000 jobs that Virgin has here in the Bay Area and the 1,600 and the 1,000 they're going to do, the 500 -- it's the multiplier effect. That's the big thing about the airline business. For every direct job they create five indirect jobs. That's why we're doing this, that's why this is a big deal. You say 500 jobs? OK. But we're talking about 2,500 jobs every single year. It's the cab driver that gets the benefit, it's the restauranteur, it's the folks at the hotels. The entire region is dramatically benefitted.
So Governor Schwarzenegger, on behalf of your team, David Crane who worked so hard, your commitment -- this was the first big partnership we had together when you became governor, to try to recruit these guys five years ago. This has paid huge dividends and goes to the spirit of the times and the spirit of our state. Again, I thank you for your leadership and Richard again for your wise decision and David and your wise decision in being here. Thank you all very much. (Applause)
MR. McCARRAN:
Thank you, Mr. Mayor and everyone else. If you would move to our right here, we're going to have a ribbon cutting to officially open the gate to Toronto for Virgin America. (Applause)
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