Chase it, I don't think the cost of a type rating was the issue. Virgin have never been tight in that respect. I think the requirement was for 'oven ready' 777 and ideally 787 pilots who would obviously have a much shorter time to come on line. There are plenty of pilots within Virgin who would wish to transfer to the 787 fleet, but even a transfer from the 747 would entail a longer conversion/ line training than a rated 787 pilot from another airline.