Skift Take
If Virgin Atlantic takes delivery of the 21 Dreamliners it has lined up, they will make up a majority of its fleet. With the airline's growth limited by Heathrow capacity constraints, taking advantage of the economic benefits of the new planes is of paramount importance.
How do you blend Virgin Atlantic cool and edginess with play-it-safe Delta?
Craig Kreeger, a former American Airlines executive who became CEO of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic 20 months ago after its Delta joint venture already had been announced, doesn't appear flustered by the question.
Kreeger, sitting for an interview in a Premium Economy seat on board the airline's first 787-900 Dreamliner, parked at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta the other day, scoffs at the contention of Willie Walsh, IAG's CEO, that Delta runs the show in the joint venture and that Virgin Atlantic doesn't really exist anymore.
"I have to say it's utterly ridiculous," Kreeger says, referring to Walsh's put-down. "And Willie's words are Willie's words. But, this airplane doesn't look like a Delta airplane. Our approach is clearly Virgin Atlantic."
Virgin Atlantic, which could have Dreamliners as the majority aircraft in its fleet within four years, has been losing lots of money over the past few years, Kreeger says, but it will be profitable in 2014.
A nice chunk of that turnaround will have to be tied to Delta, and the mass of new connections that Virgin Atlantic gets in the process, as well as, eventually, the better economics of flying those Dreamliners.
In fact, Kreeger admits, "our relationship with Delta is so much more valuable than the rest of [our] partnerships combined."
Skift sat down with Kreeger on October 24 on board the Dreamliner in Atlanta and discussed the Delta Air Lines joint venture, airline alliances, business travel, what's in store for Virgin Atlantic's clubhouses, and what Kreeger perceives to be "the coolest job in the industry."
An edited version of the interview follows:
Skift: We are sitting in Virgin Atlantic's first Dreamliner, which you named Birthday Girl. The way you've designed it, how does it address the needs of the modern traveler, whether it be a road warrior, a leisure traveler or a bleisure traveler?
Craig Kreeger: What is a bleisure traveler?
Skift: A traveler that combines a business trip and a leisure trip.
Kreeger: I just had never heard the Brangelina-fictation of that. Look, I think this airplane has a number of great features regardless of the purpose of your trip or which cabin you are flying in. First of all, when you get on board you typically walk through that door and see the bar and the Virgin Altantic lighting, and it has a kind of
