The fact that this action by Richard Branson to buy Airbus instead of Boeing is totally wrong; whether it was Boeing or Lockheed or any other American company or not, the fact that Branson has hurt an AMERICAN COMPANY. Our people should BUY AMERICAN . It is just WRONG to go outside your own country and purchase someone's else's products, We have , I think, the best production companies in the world ! Oh yes, I realize the "out the door" price can sometimes dictate where you obtain your requirement, the fact that this has put fully productive people out of work and many will end up on the dole. That is one reason I bought my Ford as verses a foreign car/truck. I believe in American made products and the folks that work in our factories! They are AMERICAN workers and deserve to be building for the USA ! I am not speaking for any unions, I was a union member years ago, This has nothing to do with this as I see it. I hope this idiot feels good for the damage he has done ! Got it off my chest!!!!!!!!!! BOB FLETCHER US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS MILITARY DESIGN SECTION 10th FLOOR S.W. SACRAMENTO DISTRICT 1325 J STREET, SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA, 95814-2922 Phone (916) 557-7235 -----Original Message----- From: Bill Hough [mailto:psa188@xxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 7:09 AM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: SFGate: Virgin to buy Airbus airplanes/Branson names carrier; executive lineup announced those hapless idiots in SEA lost another one to the Evil Empire. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2004/06= /16/BUGQU76KBE1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, June 16, 2004 (SF Chronicle) Virgin to buy Airbus airplanes/Branson names carrier; executive lineup anno= unced George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer Richard Branson has chosen the name Virgin America for his new low- cost airline and plans to acquire up to 105 new Airbus planes for the carrier, whose operations are to be based in San Francisco. The airline will have a management team made up entirely of U.S. citizen= s, said Fred Reid, head of the nascent operation, during an appearance Tuesday at the International Aviation Club in Washington. Reid said the airline has entered into agreements to acquire and lease up to 105 narrow-body Airbus aircraft. The move is a blow to Boeing, which had competed with Europe's Airbus for Virgin America's business. The planes are A319s, which, according to Airbus usually carry 124 passengers, and A320s, which carry about 150 passengers. The full picture of Virgin America -- what routes it will fly, where it will compete with other carriers, its business plan -- has yet to emerge. "All I can say is it is in process," company spokeswoman Stacy Geagan sa= id when asked about the fund-raising effort under way at Virgin America. The carrier, which still only exists on paper, said on June 4 that it wi= ll have its operational base in San Francisco, where some 1,500 flight attendants, pilots, maintenance technicians and other employees will be hired and based. The airline's administrative headquarters will be in New York, where it will have about 300 workers. The decision came after months of waiting as Virgin examined its options. Boston and the area around Dulles International Airport in Virginia were also under consideration. It was a significant win for San Francisco, but it would be incorrect to assume that San Francisco International Airport will become a Virgin America hub, Geagan said. "We have not announced airports (to be used) and it is not our intention to create a hub operation," Geagan said. She said the company "is in the process of working with different realto= rs on some very attractive locations" for the operational base. SFO spokeswoman Kandace Bender said discussions with Virgin America are taking place concerning options at the airport. Possibilities include using the space that Virgin Atlantic, the Virgin Group's international carrier, uses at the new International Terminal or perhaps using the old, vacant international terminal. Reid said the new aircraft being purchased and leased will form the backbone of the carrier's fleet, which is scheduled to begin service in 2005. "This is a major step toward realizing our goal of launching a truly 21st century alternative airline here in the United States," he said. He said Virgin America has a firm order for 18 new aircraft -- 11 A319s and seven A320s -- with 15 additional new A320s being leased from GE Capital Aviation Services. He said the agreement with Airbus has options for up to 72 additional aircraft. All will be equipped with engines from CMF International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma Moteurs of France and GE. U.S. law says that Branson, because he is not a U.S. citizen, cannot own more than 49 percent of the carrier or control more than 25 percent of its voting stock. The management team announced on Tuesday includes Joe Houghton, the chief pilot, who was the former assistant chief pilot for US Airways; Terry Rendleman, senior vice president of technical operations, who was a manager at United Airlines and Northwest Airlines; and Todd Pawlowski, vice president of airports and customer service, from Virgin Atlantic. Henry Harteveldt, the principal airline analyst at Forrester Research in San Francisco, noted that Airbus beat out Boeing at a time when the dollar is weak. "That tells me Airbus is buying the business," meaning the company may have offered Virgin America an attractive purchase price and "figured out ways to do so in a manner that accounts for the weakness of the dollar." He added that Tuesday's announcement was of particular interest to JetBl= ue Airways, which will be a competitor. The size of the airplane order "signals that the Virgin organization is very serious about becoming a major player in the nation's airline system," Harteveldt said. "What is really interesting is that for the first time we are seeing wel= l- financed, well-managed airlines coming in and, just as in technology, disrupting the status quo," he said, in a reference to New York's JetBlue and Independence Air, the reconfigured Atlantic Coast Airlines based at Dulles, as well as Virgin America. E-mail George Raine at graine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------= --------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle