=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/2007/10/11/BUN4SNR70.= DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, October 11, 2007 (SF Chronicle) Virgin America makes a dramatic entrance into Las Vegas George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer We got caught up with racy entertainer Carmen Electra on Wednesday, along with business mogul Sir Richard Branson and Kyla Ebbert, the San Diego waitress who found recent fame after her attire was deemed inappropriate by Southwest Airlines officials during one of their flights. What brought this unlikely trio together? They were all gathered at Gate A-11 of San Francisco International Airport's international terminal, celebrating the first of Virgin America's three daily flights between San Francisco and Las Vegas - from "Fog City to Sin City," according to the marketing people. While Branson and Electra were there to inform and entertain, Ebbert was there as a direct dig at Virgin's archrival Southwest. And that's not all, by a longshot. There were showgirls and a singer, and the normally staid gate was prettied up with red, white and black balloons and inflated dice. It was marketing gone bonkers, with Virgin America events scheduled into the wee hours of today at the Wynn Las Vegas, party central for the airline, expected to end with a swim in the Wynn waterfall for those left standing. Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group and 25 percent owner of Virgin America, the Burlingame carrier just 64 days old, arrived with a flourish, dressed in a religious man's collar, a cross around his neck. Preacher Branson, ordained online for the day in the Universal Life Church, performed an in-flight wedding ceremony minutes after the Las Vegas-bound flight departed, joining Dimitrios Papadogonas, director of marketing at Virgin America, and Coco Jones, who sells advertising at Yahoo. The idea for the wedding originated with Abby Lunardini, the carrier's spokeswoman. It was also Lunardini who secured Ebbert's assist with marketing. The two met on the set of the Dr. Phil show where Ebbert denounced Southwest after a supervisor in July objected to her - in his mind - skimpy attire. Lunardini invited Ebbert on what ultimately was Wednesday's first Virgin flight to Las Vegas and to make personal appearances for the airline. Now there's talk of possible commercial work. Cameras flashing, Branson picked up Ebbert and proclaimed, "Welcome aboard, Kyla. Our gain. "I love to live my life to its fullest and not take myself too seriously= ," Branson said prior to departure. If Virgin America employees "have fun in what they are doing, then I think the passengers who come into contact with the cabin crew will see they are smiling, are happy and they'll enjoy flying with us." He added, "It makes good business sense to have a team of highly motivated people who believe in what they are doing." The philosophy was played in spades Wednesday. Carmen Electra, the entertainer, was flown in to turn heads at Gate A-11 at SFO and make the flight to Las Vegas. Electra's followers will be pleased to know that she just finished two movies and has another in her Aerobic Striptease workout video series coming out in December. (In case one cares to know, Electra has a habit of repeatedly touching men on the arm when she speaks to them.) Ebbert hasn't quite put the Southwest Airlines experience to rest. "I think people responded the way they did because it could have happened to anybody," said Ebbert, who has left her job as a Hooters waitress in San Diego because it was difficult for her to balance work and school. How has her life changed since going public with her gripe? "I never would have been here" had there not been the embarrassing episode on a flight to Phoenix - for which Southwest apologized profusely. As she spoke, a singer was belting, "He did it Branson's way," to the tu= ne of "My Way," and performers from the Wynn Las Vegas production of Le Reve, an aerial acrobatic production in a theater in the round, contorted at the gate and posed for pictures. The wedding couple at first was apprehensive about the idea of a public relations send-off but warmed to the idea. "Neither of us are public type of people," said Coco Jones, 39, who lives in San Francisco with her 40-year-old husband, Papadogonas. "We talked about it, and it was just such a turnkey for us." Branson rehearsed a line or two prior to departure. "You will have the rest of your life together where you will soar on the wings of love," he said, reading an index card. "You have to get the airline metaphor in there," he explained. Virgin America will compete with Southwest, which has more than 33 fligh= ts a day between the Bay Area and Las Vegas. But Fred Reid, the Virgin America chief executive, said he didn't want to talk competition. "What we want to entice people with is we want to fly on time, we want to treat them with respect and affection, and we want to entertain along the way," he said. From Las Vegas later Wednesday, Lunardini, the spokeswoman, said the wedding went off without a hitch. The wedding song playing over the PA system was "Love Is In the Air." A company that resold Southwest Airlines Co. boarding passes to let customers score the best seats on the plane has closed. C3 E-mail George Raine at graine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------= --------------------------------------------- Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".