Changes to Virgins Level of Service

[LiamR]

G'day, long time lurker and first time poster (Be Kind)

Thought I'd start off with a bit of gossip, I was at a conference in SYD last week and ended up having lunch with a set of DJ Cabin Crew and somebody from head office.

They told me about the changes that Virgin Blue will be implementing over the next few months. These include.

• New IFE - RED, Same system used on VX & VA. They hinted at using a similar service to VX, where there is no trolley you just order food over your IFE and they bring it out.
• New Uniforms, Men wear full suits with Red or Purple Ties. Females are wearing Dark Purple or Read skirts, wouldn't say about the top. Cabin Crew have already been fitted in them.
• They said they are doing J seats, with similar service standards to QF, they wouldn't tell me much, but said the food would nolonger be just snacks, but whole meals depending on the time of the day. Similar to QF.
• Bad news - *A isn't on the horizon, at least not for the next 6 months I was told.... they were either being cheeky or dropping a hint about that.
• Cabin Crew were telling me that Feb 28 is being said a lot about the date when this will be unvailed or put into service.
• I've got photos of what the new terminal in BNE will look like, will post later.

Some interesting points, and flaws in the plan. But oppertunties, such as

• Swiping your Velocity Gold Card for free food/ service

Will keep you posted as I find out more.

As a QF, I had pleanty of jokes for the Virgin staff but they came back with just as many good ones. Very welcoming and invited me to join them for lunch. When they asked if I fly Virgin I said I fly on a real airline.

Their response: Real Airlines engines fall off? Hmm guess we won't ever be one then!

-_-

Liam R.

 

[samh004]

Their response: Real Airlines engines fall off? Hmm guess we won't ever be one then!

Least QF aren’t constantly backing their planes into other objects

Interesting developments, I look forward to new terminal photos as I used the BNE terminal recently and was underwhelmed by it all.

 

[LiamR]

Least QF aren’t constantly backing their planes into other objects

Interesting developments, I look forward to new terminal photos as I used the BNE terminal recently and was underwhelmed by it all.

My response - Aren't Vrigin Cabin Crew the only ones that get lost on a 747?


Not the best pic, but thats the artists impression of the new BNE Terminal.... Will try to get more later.

 

[scibo10]

Thanks for the post Liam.

I guess they didn't mention anything about the new livery and brand name?

Hmm, no *A in the near future... Wonder if this means they are swinging more towards Skyteam. DL is looking into taking a stake in VS, which could mean VS and VA (Virgin Australia maybe??) would be in the same alliance should they both join. Skyteam would suit VX nicely from what I read too. Given VX and UA compete on a number of routes, they may not be welcome entry into *A as much as ST.

 

[LiamR]

Didn't think to ask about livery, I made a joke about changing to V Blue or Virgin Australia.

They said Virgin Australia isn't happening because of copyright, you might have seen a story on ACA about it last week.

It looks like skyteam might happen in the 6-12 months range. They seem to be setting up the airline for it like you suggested. But it could all be riding on the Delta alliance which was knocked back.

Time will tell!

Liam R.

 

[anat0l]

Thanks for this info. Will be very interested to see Virgin roll out the new Business product. I'd imagine it would have to go beyond the normal snacks service so not too surprising that they will be serving "wholesome" food. What would be more interesting is to see the price point which they set it at (my bets are that they will set it low and force QF to drop to match, more pronounced on long routes e.g. BNE-MEL and ...-PER).

The BNE refurbishment sounds a bit underwhelming. It's not as if the DJ side of the terminal is looking rather daggy in the first place, so will be intrigued to see what they do with this.

If they are using RED on all planes now, does this mean they will be touchscreen services, and free of charge (or they will put a pay-for-view layer on top of the RED system)?

The new uniforms sound a lot like the VS uniforms.

 

[markis10]

Least QF aren’t constantly backing their planes into other objects

Interesting developments, I look forward to new terminal photos as I used the BNE terminal recently and was underwhelmed by it all.

Sam,

Planes dont have reverse, its somewhat of a naive comment, especially if you have not been to LAX or worked for the dispatch crew there.

 

[oz_mark]

Sam,

Planes dont have reverse, its somewhat of a naive comment, especially if you have not been to LAX or worked for the dispatch crew there.

I believe planes do have a reverse - it's just not used. Blowing out the windows in terminals is not a good thing :mrgreen:

 

[rwatts]

I believe planes do have a reverse - it's just not used. Blowing out the windows in terminals is not a good thing :mrgreen:

Actually does get used, particularly with certain aircraft types, but not generally when facing terminals and can be damn embarrassing when someone steps on the brakes while reversing.

Richard.

 

[straitman]

Least QF aren’t constantly backing their planes into other objects

Who is constantly backing their planes into other objects?

Maybe we should stick to the facts :!:

Some time ago jb747 offered an explanation as to what it is like sitting up front when an aircraft is being backed. The pilots are almost as much passengers in this situation as anyone else.

To a point It really is the luck of the draw as to which airlines suffer from Tarmac rash as the guys driving the tow motors do not work for the individual airlines. As I pointed out in the Emirates A380 thread Tarmac rash causes billions of dollars damage annually and mostly the individual airlines have no control.

In the past AA has backed their MD80 aircraft (at some airports) using reverse thrust but don't do so any longer due fuel costs and wear & tear on the engines.

 

[anat0l]

I think samh004 was being facetious, rather a giveaway with the smilie .

It's like saying, "I fly DJ since at least their engines aren't falling off the wings!" I'm sure it's not completely 100% QF's fault that one of their RR engines blew up, although the mainstream media loves to have a dig to say effectively that flying QF means flying on aircraft that run the risk of losing an engine...or two... or perhaps an oxygen tank exploding... or doing celebrity-certified terrifying go-arounds... you get the idea.

 

[LiamR]

It's like saying, "I fly DJ since at least their engines aren't falling off the wings!" I'm sure it's not completely 100% QF's fault that one of their RR engines blew up, although the mainstream media loves to have a dig to say effectively that flying QF means flying on aircraft that run the risk of losing an engine...or two... or perhaps an oxygen tank exploding... or doing celebrity-certified terrifying go-arounds... you get the idea.

Couldn't agree more, the media enjoys QF's problems.... even though they RR problems.
Slightly OT- My little brother had a model QF380 and the number two engine fell off... The first thing he said was JUST LIKE QANTAS... Oh the irony..

On VX, the RED IFE is Pay-Per-View. Some things are free, such as live tv. But moves and some TV shows aren't. Credit Card payment only on VX, hope they have an alternative here for people who don't have a credit card.

 

[anat0l]

On VX, the RED IFE is Pay-Per-View. Some things are free, such as live tv. But moves and some TV shows aren't. Credit Card payment only on VX, hope they have an alternative here for people who don't have a credit card.

If Live TV was free here, that would be a real boon for DJ!

The current system going here is you can pay the FAs to activate your L2A service if you don't have a credit card handy. I guess there's no reason why it can't be done once RED is introduced.

 

[LiamR]

If Live TV was free here, that would be a real boon for DJ!

The current system going here is you can pay the FAs to activate your L2A service if you don't have a credit card handy. I guess there's no reason why it can't be done once RED is introduced.

But L2A only needs to be activated once. Heres the senario:

BNE-PER, a pax watches 5 30min tv shows. Needing to pay by cash 5 seperate times... Say it takes 1min each transaction 5min per pax.

A lot of people watching a lot of videos paying by cash would have very busy/angry F/A!

 

[anat0l]

But L2A only needs to be activated once. Heres the senario:

BNE-PER, a pax watches 5 30min tv shows. Needing to pay by cash 5 seperate times... Say it takes 1min each transaction 5min per pax.

A lot of people watching a lot of videos paying by cash would have very busy/angry F/A!

Fair enough.

Well they could just say credit cards / debit cards only then. They did it in the USA (most carriers for BOB services). I'm not exactly sure if that directly violates any TPA provisions however (locked in for method of payment)...

Either that, or if FAs don't necessarily do their trolley service any more (i.e. serve only "on demand"), then perhaps activating IFEs will be part of that service. Can't imagine a lot of people asking for "cash activation" of their IFEs (either because they don't want to bother paying for IFE or they will have credit cards anyway).

It would make for an interesting stress test if you got, say, 30-50 pax requesting cash IFE activation on a, say, BNE-SYD or SYD-MEL flight!

 

[scibo10]

Just watched the ACA program on Virgin vs Virgin. Very Castlesque It always amazes me that mediation is not taken as a first step. The first thing I learnt in law school is that both parties are losers when things go to court...

Makes me think that DJ may settle for using Virgin Pacific as their name. This should keep all parties happy, assuming of course that Singapore has already been appeased.

I'm beginning to wonder if the changes, excluding introduction of J, will be that extensive. Rumours on rebranding suggest that the red livery is to stay, no real consensus on brand name, IFE may well continue to be pay-per-view, ordering food through the RED system suggests food is only available to purchase. Domestically anyway, it doesn't sound like all too much will change...

Internationally though is clearly a different story...

 

[haydensydney]

Great news!

But - I'm sure that such dramatic changes to an airlines strategy wouldn't be casually communicated to all staff (such as cabin crew) this far out from launch. I would hazard a guess that this is probably just gossip or chinese whispers.

If I was a DJ change manager, project manager, comm's manager, I would disappointed if this level of detail was released this early to market.

Thanks for the leak though

 

[oz_mark]

Just watched the ACA program on Virgin vs Virgin. Very Castlesque It always amazes me that mediation is not taken as a first step. The first thing I learnt in law school is that both parties are losers when things go to court...

The second thing you should learn, though, is that ego often gets in the way.

 

[markis10]

But L2A only needs to be activated once. Heres the senario:

BNE-PER, a pax watches 5 30min tv shows. Needing to pay by cash 5 seperate times... Say it takes 1min each transaction 5min per pax.

A lot of people watching a lot of videos paying by cash would have very busy/angry F/A!

L2A is gone, thats why the deliveries this year have not had it put in.

 

[straitman]

Thought I'd start off with a bit of gossip, I was at a conference in SYD last week and ended up having lunch with a set of DJ Cabin Crew and somebody from head office.

They told me about the changes that Virgin Blue will be implementing over the next few months. These include.

• Bad news - *A isn't on the horizon, at least not for the next 6 months I was told.... they were either being cheeky or dropping a hint about that.

Will keep you posted as I find out more.

Liam R.

With all due respect to the OP I am more inclined to believe this sort of post from a long time member who is actually from Virgin Blue. Star Alliance courts Virgin Blue


I appreciate the post but until there is some substantiation I am inclined to treat it as gossip per the opening statement.