=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/c/a/2006/10/12/BUGSELNHHG= 1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, October 12, 2006 (SF Chronicle) Virgin America plane ready to fly/Airline still awaits approval to begin se= rvice from SFO David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer Virgin America may not yet have the federal government's approval to fly, but the fledgling San Francisco airline definitely knows how to throw a party, as it showed Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport by unveiling its first plane, drawing peppy in-person endorsements from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Gavin Newsom, and breaking out the Champagne for several hundred of its dearest friends. Acknowledging that the startup airline is still waiting to get Washington's OK to take off, Virgin America's chief executive officer, Fred Reid, said the party at SFO, with high-level politicians in attendance, "demonstrates that we are ready, willing and able to fly. We just want to do the American thing and just compete in the marketplace." On the tarmac sat Virgin America's first plane: A white Airbus A320 with engines painted red and the Virgin brand daubed on its red tail. Dubbed "Jefferson Airplane," the plane was unveiled to sprays of Champagne and an appearance by Grace Slick, former lead singer for the Haight Ashbury psychedelic band Jefferson Airplane. A party DJ played Slick's recording of "White Rabbit" as the wraps came off the aircraft. Virgin America -- which licenses the Virgin brand from Richard Branson, the billionaire British entrepreneur who runs Virgin Atlantic Airways and other businesses -- applied in December to the Department of Transportation for permission to begin service. However, the application has been challenged by other airlines which claim that Branson, a British subject, would effectively control the airline. Federal laws specify that U.S. airlines must be majority owned and controlled by U.S. citizens. Reid and other Virgin America executives say that Branson owns just 25 percent of Virgin America, as allowed by law, and that Americans will indeed run the new airline. Virgin America hopes to begin service as a discount carrier offering flights between San Francisco and New York. Schwarzenegger and Newsom both lobbied Virgin to establish headquarters = in San Francisco, which the carrier decided to do back in June 2004. After a long search for funding, Virgin America has locked in $177 million, the most for a U.S. startup airline. Schwarzenegger, who has written letters of support to the Transportation Department for Virgin America, said it's time to get on with the business of flying -- and generate the hundreds of jobs that Virgin America promises to bring to the Bay Area. "I remember how excited I was when I heard that the Virgin brand was goi= ng to be expanding in America," the governor said. "What's making me happiest of all is that Virgin America is choosing San Francisco as its hub. That means 1,700 new jobs in California." Schwarzenegger said California remains committed to granting Virgin America an already announced $10 million to retrain furloughed airline industry workers -- one of the incentives offered to lure the airline to the state. While sleek party-goers with cocktails in one hand and cell phones in the other drifted by, Reid acknowledged the long wait has been frustrating. But, he said, "The investors are not blinking, and I am very enthusiastic about flying this beautiful plane across this country." Slick drew laughs from party-goers when she said, "The Grateful Dead wou= ld have been a bad name for an aircraft, but our name is a logical choice." E-mail David Armstrong at davidarmstrong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------= -------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2006 SF Chronicle