Alaska Airlines to ground Virgin America following takeover

Virgin America, which introduced mood lighting, on-demand food and in-flight Netflix, is set to fly no more.

The airline is being folded into Alaska Airlines by the end of 2019 following Alaska’s $2.6-billion purchase of Virgin America three months ago.

Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson called it a “sad” and “baffling” day.

“With a lot of things in life, there is a point where we have to let go and appreciate the fact that we had this ride at all,” he wrote in a blog post on Thursday, reminiscing on the innovative and quirky airline’s past.

“Many years ago, I shed tears over selling my beloved Virgin Records for $1 billion, which we needed to fight off British Airways’ Dirty Tricks campaign to try to put Virgin Atlantic out of business. Many tears are shed today, this time over Alaska Airlines’ decision to buy and now retire Virgin America.”

Alaska Airlines says it will spend the next few years making major enhancements and incorporating favorite elements of the Virgin America experience.

The airline says it plans to redesign its cabin to include new seats and adopt Virgin America’s distinctive mood lighting, although it will transition from Virgin’s pink and purple to blue inside the cabin. It also plans to make permanent a temporary promotion that gives passengers free access to more than 200 movies and TV shows.

In April 2010, Virgin America selected Toronto as its first international destination only to shutter the service less than 10 months later due to what it called a lack of interest on the part of passengers.

“This was the ride and love of a lifetime. I feel very lucky to have been on it with all of you,” concluded Brandon. “I’m told some people at Virgin America are calling today ‘the day the music died’. It is a sad (and some would say baffling) day. But I’d like to assure them that the music never dies.”