Virgin Australia Will Exclusively Fly 737s, Retire 777s & A330s

Sad.

Virgin Australia provided great service and gave Qantas some healthy competition on its long-haul routes.

I wonder if we will see SpiceJet picking up the A330’s. With a few at business class already onboard it could be a cheap way to grow there European and US operations!

They’re also keeping their A320 and Fokker 100 fleets (albeit it’s under the Virgin Australia Regional Airlines entity)

It's sad to see the changes happening to VA, but understandable given their situation prior to and during COVID. I always thought their staff were great, though I did always feel like their product overall was always a couple steps behind Qantas (with the exception of EconomyX).

I'm not sure how I see this as "bad news" for Delta, though? Most VA customer avoided the DL trans-pacific flights (if, for no other reason, than they were lumped into the "American-based airlines" category). This now 'forces' VA travellers to take DL operated flights to the US if they want to enjoy FF benefits - as opposed to just the domestic US-connections.

As for the BNE-LAX flights, I always thought those were just a matter of VA-home-turf pride. If DL does expand (when we get out of this COVID mess), I'd like to think MEL is much more commercially viable - especially as we're almost as large as SYD, and growing at a faster rate - likely to be the largest city in AUS by 2026. That also gives a very convenient transit point for travellers form ADL, HBA, and CBR (doubtful VA will fly CBR-SYD is my guess). Even PER may want to transit MEL as the VA 330's will no longer fly.

Interesting times again, and good luck to the new VA team and direction!

Their CEO said he expects that the return of international travel in volume remains some years away, although he says Virgin intends to restart flights to Los Angeles and Tokyo "when sufficient demand returns and by then, Virgin will have an all-new international fleet, with Boeing 787 Dreamliners previously earmarked for both Asia and the USA".

“the best value carrier in the market, not a low-cost carrier” — marketing BS at its best, girl! Good luck, though.

Huh. A330s & 777s going for what will no doubt be a bargain. Any likely takers??

Why don’t they just rename the airline “Southwest Australia”?

@Ray

A330 fleet was leased. They will just be returned to their owners.

The 777s were largely 'owned' on the other hand, will be interesting how they'll dispose of them whilst the market for wide-bodies is pretty much non-existent.

May be cheaper to sell VA's 777s to the scrappers and sell off the spare parts retrieved from the scrappers if "storing" VA's 777s out in the desert until a buyer is available is expensive.

It's always great to see Delta get kicked in the gut.

Wow! I flew on Virgin Australia MEL-LAX back in February and I recall talking to the flight attendants at the onboard bar how excited they were to start flying to Tokyo Haneda in March 2020. :/ Loved the VA experience.
As for its future in the next several months, it looks like it's going back to its Virgin Blue roots. Really hoping VA will rise again someday.

@Alan why do you feel that way? Being in healthcare, I don't fully understand the business world and corporate structure. Are Delta's business practices unethical or illegal? Or do you just not like them because of how they market themselves (which I can admit is kind of annoying, they aren't that special).

Even though I live in Miami, I only fly Delta and occasionally Southwest or Spirit if the route/timing is better. I go out of my way to avoid American Airlines after some unpleasant experiences.

If I don't like a company, I just don't give them my business. I wouldn't root for them to get "kicked in the gut" because so many people depend on them for a job. I'm curious what about Delta warrants that reaction from you? Not attacking you, just generally wanting to learn.

I wonder if Virgin will be giving up their Haneda slot as a result of this?

@TroyTheYank
NO chance that Delta would ever fly to Melbourne. They've been very conservative with the destinations they chose to fly to before the pandemic so they’ll be way more hesitant in choosing new destination in the short to medium term. Virgin will probably make their US bound customers connect in Sydney for Deltas flights to LA.

delta strategy not "backfiring" that is like saying that i am better of then an airline because that means i am not losing money now 🙂 Delta will be there like everyone else when the market returns and stronger then them all..

Sad to see, but not too surprising. I really liked Virgin's Economy X on their 777, mainly from the fact that you get noise-canceling headphones with VA. Once Delta gets a few more A350s/A330neos and international travel resumes in a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if Delta picked up some of the other routes from LAX.

I'd say it would be easier for Delta to resume the LAX-Melbourne/Brisbane routes than VA. Given the typical schedules between LA and Australia, most Qantas and VA planes usually sit around LAX all day waiting for the return flight to Australia in the evening, while the US Big 3 get to utilize their long-haul aircraft for domestic routes (e.g. LAX-ATL/JFK). It's only a 2-3 hour turnaround in Sydney anyway so there's little chance to utilize these aircraft outside of the US-Australia routes.

I flew LAX-BNE and back SYD-LAX on March 1st after Mardi Gras festivities in Economy X, and it was truly a wonderful experience. Hard to believe everything would change two weeks later. I truly feel for all of the wonderful crew who lost their jobs.

I flew on Virgin Australia BNE-LAX a few years ago. Great business seat and service. If/when they decide to resume long haul flights, the 787 or A350 would be good aircraft options.

Everyone says it’s a great experience; why, then, did it go bust? I’ve never flown Virgin internationally , having no status with them...and they failed...miserably...to attract QANTAS top tier flyers, preferring instead to offer status to public servants. Mega flop, presided over by inept and clueless management.

@Bill~ don't you mean SOUTH-EAST Australia? That I where the bulk of Virgins flights have been and will continue to be.

Actually it's not Flo.

LCC means no lounges, no business class, no luggage included and no snacks.

Good value means what it says, similar inclusions to mainline but at a better price.

They'll be the latter, not the former.

I suspect that Delta will operate the a350 to SYD when service is restored. Much better ride than the 787's operated by AA or UA, until QF 380's come back.

Having flown these wide bodies both trans continental and cross Pacific to LAX, I will miss them greatly. “ the business “ was a delightful product. Virgin now just needs to fall in line behind Qantas as the domestic market demand returns. It’s also a pity to see Tiger go as they were a good competitor to jetstar on some of the more tourist and city routes.