Virgin America provokes fare wars at LAX
For years, JetBlue Airways Corp. turned up its nose at flying out of Los Angeles International Airport, saying that LAX was too big, too crowded and, well, that it just preferred to operate out of smaller hubs.
Then out of the blue last month, the low-cost carrier stunned LAX officials by asking for gates there. Moreover, it wanted them in Terminal 6 next to Virgin America, the airline started by eccentric British billionaire Richard Branson.
It was no surprise to industry observers. Branson is once again shaking up the industry with an airline that is offering low fares and unusual onboard amenities.
The repercussions have been particularly visible at LAX where the airline has heated up the kind of competition the airport hasn't seen in recent memory.
LAX passengers flying to popular domestic destinations such as San Francisco and New York are enjoying some of the lowest fares in years despite record fuel prices.
"We've become a hotbed of competition," said Paul Haney, the airport's deputy executive director. "I don't know if we could say that without Virgin America."
Since Virgin America began flying out of LAX in August with fares as low as $44 one-way, competitors have been beefing up flights and lowering fares and even JetBlue has been prompted to enter the market.
Southwest, United and Alaska airlines, long LAX mainstays, added flights to routes served by Virgin America. And they either matched or lowered fares closer to that offered by the airline.
When Virgin America announced it would begin flying between LAX and Seattle, Alaska quickly responded by adding three more flights between the two cities.
The additional flights would begin in April, a month before Virgin America had planned to enter the Seattle market. Not to be outdone, Virgin America changed the start of the service, pushing it up to April and announced it would offer one-way $77 fares, or about half of the prevailing rate.
Forest Hills, N.Y.-based JetBlue, which has had its part in shaking up the industry with discount fares since it started flying in 2000, said last month that it would begin serving LAX passengers with four daily flights to New York and Boston beginning in May.
The sudden flurry of choices for flights to some of the more popular destinations has been a boon for LAX consumers, who are seeing fares as much as half of what they had been used to paying.
