At 9:35 in the evening Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, Virgin America will fly off into the sunset — or, more accurately, from Los Angeles to San Francisco — on what is being called a “Founders Flight”…
Will You Be a Passenger For the Last Flight of Virgin America?
…but the short flight is closed to the public; so FlyerTalk members are taking the opportunity to celebrate what seems to be deemed the last flight which is officially marketed to the public as one operated by Virgin America on the same day at 9:30 in the evening Pacific Daylight Time from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
“The husband and I are booked on this flight”, FlyerTalk member CalanMan posted. “I’m sure the stations will be considering it a special moment, even if it’s not officially anything specific (VX1948 LAX-SFO will be the last to depart, VX1182 SFO-EWR will be the last to land, VX1122 OGG-LAX will be the last to land at LAX, etc etc). But the subbing in of the 321 gives me hope for a festive admosphere. Stuff like this is always fun.”
Brief History of What Led to The Last Virgin America Flight
Alaska Airlines initially agreed to acquire Virgin America for $2.6 billion in cash back on Monday, April 4, 2016. The Department of Justice of the United States officially approved the acquisition of Virgin America Incorporated by Alaska Airlines on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 after the completion of its review.
The Virgin America name will likely cease to exist as a brand sometime in the year 2019 — exactly when has not yet been determined, although it could likely happen sooner — as part of the continued integration with Alaska Airlines.
The two airlines have adopted the name and logo of Alaska Airlines, whose refreshed branding was unveiled back in January of 2016 and integrated many of the brand elements of Virgin America.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan became the sole frequent flier loyalty program as of Monday, January 1, 2018, which ended the existence of the Virgin America Elevate frequent flier loyalty program. Members of both frequent flier loyalty programs had the opportunity to convert Elevate points to Mileage Plan miles and score a points conversion bonus of 30 percent — which meant that 1.3 Mileage Plan miles was received for every Elevate point which was converted — but that offer no longer exists.
Summary
If you want to join in on the fun and be a passenger aboard the airplane which will operate as Virgin America flight 1948, you can find out more information in this FlyerTalk discussion.
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
