So, what's the answer? Is Branson really going to do this (as countless reports over the past 10 months would have us believe)?
He has said on many occasions, that he would rather do it from scratch with his own people and planes rather than team up with an already-existing US airline. We all know of his successes with Virgin Blue in Australia but I guess the market forces in the US are somewhat different.
If, and it seems like this is a big if, this gets off the ground, then it's going to be mighty interesting watching what will happen in terms of what routes and the type of passenger he hopes to attract. I'm saying this because to me this seems a double-edged sword. While it would certainly stir the pot vis-a-vis the low-cost carriers, everybody here is screaming about
over capacity! Do we really NEED yet another LCC when the amjority continue to struggle. A lot of folks don't realize that the industry in the US is far worse than in EU or indeed, many other parts of the world. Pundits say that it is the worse downturn in 30 years - not just the usual 10-year cycle.
On the other hand Sir RB is no fool either. He does his homework and very rarely backs a loser (one being Virgin Trains which he readily admits was a mistake). Also, he has had a high-level team in NY for some time looking into all the possibilities and talking to potential investors etc. One report even suggested a link up with mainline VS from their US gateway cities.
Either way, I think there are interesting times ahead....