BURLINGAME, Calif., June 8, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Virgin America has announced the next ten names of its brand new aircraft fleet. Eight names were selected from the airline's website naming contest. Also, two planes, Unicorn Chaser and Chic Mobile, have been named by the co-editors at Boing Boing, one of the world's most popular blogs, and by designer Jonathan Adler, respectively. The airline's first aircraft was named Jefferson Airplane last October by the band's lead singer, Grace Slick.
Recently Virgin America held a consumer contest to name the fleet. The airline received tens of thousands of entries. Of those, eight winners were selected: Airplane 2.0; An Airplane Named Desire; Contents May Be Under Pressure; Fog Cutter; Jane; Mach Daddy; Virgin & Tonic; and, Winner of Naming Contest.
"We were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of entries people submitted to help name our fleet," said Virgin America CEO Fred Reid. "While the prize was restricted to entrants from the U.S., we were amazed to have so many people from around the world get involved with the contest! We're looking forward to serving our future guests in these creatively-named planes!"
Tech culture journalist and co-editor of Boing Boing Xeni Jardin said: "The idea of Unicorn Chaser first popped up on Boing Boing to serve as a cleansing of the palate after a viewer has been subjected to a distasteful internet image or experience. Nothing takes away the sting of a jarring experience better than an image of a nice unicorn prancing in the meadow."
"Unicorn Chaser fits the Virgin brand -- compared to my recent experiences of flying domestically, I'm sure Virgin America will be a welcome relief!" adds John Battelle, Boing Boing's Brand manager and Chairman of Federated Media.
"It's my lifelong mission to meld happiness with chicness!" said Mr Adler. "I want that experience everywhere -- not just in the interiors and products I design, but in the air, in my car, or walking through an airline terminal! I imagine VA will bring back to flying all the grooviness it had in the 60s when Braniff tapped designers like Alexander Girard and Emilio Pucci, and TWA called on Eero Saarinen to build their totally mod terminal at JFK. Take a ride on the Chic Mobile!"
The airline has received its Final Order approval from the Department of Transportation and is planning to commence sales soon for a mid-summer launch. Virgin America has 31 new Airbus A320 family aircraft on firm order.
About Boing Boing:
Boing Boing attracts more than two million unique visitors to its site each month and has more than 2.2 million RSS subscribers. By Comscore's measure, Boing Boing is among the five most visited blogs on the web. Technorati's list of most influential blogs (ranked by how many sites list to the blog) ranks Boing Boing at #1.
About Jonathan Adler:
Jonathan Adler is celebrated for the mod shapes, vibrant colors and organic eye-popping patterns that are the signature of his work. His business encompasses eight retail outlets in New York's Soho, West Village and Upper East Side as well as Los Angeles, East Hampton, Miami, San Francisco and Chicago; a thriving interior design business; and a burgeoning licensing business under the brand name Jonathan Adler Happy Home.
About Virgin America:
Virgin America plans to launch domestic U.S. scheduled airline service this summer utilizing new Airbus A320 family aircraft. The company has announced firm orders for 31 new Airbus aircraft. Virgin America's principal base of operations will be San Francisco International Airport. To learn more about Virgin America, or to learn more about joining our team, visit www.virginamerica.com.
The Virgin America logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2371