Subscribe
Login
Airlines

Virgin America CEO Tells Loyalty Members It Needed Acquisition to Compete

Dennis Schaal photo
Dennis Schaal

Photo Credit: Virgin America CEO David Cush and a flight attendant mark the airline's IPO at the Nasdaq exchange on November 14, 2014. Virgin America

Skift Take

Alaska Air and Virgin America can rightly argue that they need a marriage to compete with the likes of Delta, America, United and Southwest. JetBlue, meanwhile, which made an unsuccessful bid, gets left out in the cold.

Trying to reassure frequent flyers about the Alaska Air Group acquisition, Virgin America CEO David Cush told Elevate members that his airline needed the merger "to compete in this consolidated environment," which finds Delta, American, United, and Southwest controlling "more than 80 percent of the U.S. market." The communication to Elevate members, which Virgin America filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, confirms that the Elevate program will merge into Al

Get unlimited access with Skift Pro.

Subscribe now for complete access to Skift.com's trusted coverage of the travel industry.

Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, Discover, American Express

Already a subscriber? Login