Sorry ladies and gents, but the beloved airline with mood lighting and hilarious flight boards is officially retiring. Virgin America was acquired by Alaska Airlines in 2016 and will officially disappear under their banner sometime in 2019.
The airline is known for various antics like watching the World Series mid-flight and epic dance safety videos and is consistently named a top airline by both travelers and professionals.
Why rid of something so wonderful, you ask? Other than Alaska Airline’s Vice President’s statement about needing consistency under one name in order to be successful, there doesn’t seem to be a blatant reason for Virgin’s fall.
Alaska Airlines promises to keep the much of the hip and humorous vibe as Virgin America, but only time will tell. Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia also plan to keep groovin’ in the classic Virgin way. Until then, soak up the purple-pink mood lighting and free entertainment for all it’s worth. Oh, and here’s owner Sir Richard Branson’s heartfelt farewell letter to his staff to give you all of the feels.
Photo by InSapphoWeTrust, CC-BY-SA
McGee Nall is a Paste intern and a freelance writer based out of Athens, Georgia. She was probably eating Nilla wafers and Nutella while writing this.