By the start of the next decade, Virgin Atlantic will no longer have any aircraft with onboard bars, ending a decades-long feature that has been popular with customers. Is this a sad development, or is Virgin Atlantic just getting better at math?
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Virgin Atlantic’s inflight bars aren’t long for this world
A couple of days ago, Virgin Atlantic announced that it would retrofit its Boeing 787-9s with all-new interiors. This is long overdue, since these planes have the most lackluster hard product of any of the carrier’s modern jets, especially in business class (referred to by the airline as “Upper Class”).
As the planes are reconfigured, they’re also going to become much more premium-heavy, with an extra 13 business class seats and 21 premium economy seats, at the expense of 65 economy seats.
However, it’s not all good news. As the Boeing 787-9s get a makeover, they’ll be losing the Upper Class bar, located by the second set of doors. The Dreamliners will actually be the first Virgin Atlantic planes to not have any sort of a social space.
In recent years, Virgin Atlantic has been moving away from the bar concept, while still embracing the idea of a social space. On both Airbus A350-1000s and Airbus A330-900neos, the airline has replaced the bar concept with The Loft, essentially a lounge area where guests can hang out.
This isn’t nearly as social or lively, which is a double edged sword. Some people love the bar, for the ability to chat with others, while some people aren’t a fan, given the noise that it often generates.
But the Dreamliners aren’t even getting The Loft concept. That’s because the space by the second set of doors will simply be used as a galley. Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss claims that the new social spaces on these planes will be the Retreat Suites, which I find to be a rather disingenuous claim.
These are the front row business class seats with extra space, and there will be eight of those on the reconfigured 787s. The idea is that they have a buddy seat, so it’s a place that passengers can hang out. However, I don’t think anyone would argue that’s an actual “social space” in the same way as a bar. Weiss claims that these seats could get an improved soft product in the future, like better champagne and food, but nothing specific has been announced there just yet.
Virgin Atlantic was a real innovator when it came to the idea of offering social spaces on planes. It’s one of the few airlines to offer a social space on every aircraft, as that’s not something that’s common, given the value of aircraft real estate.
I’m not surprised to see this change at Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is a lovely airline to fly with, though the airline has consistently struggled with profitability over the years. I imagine that largely comes down to the challenges of being an airline that exclusively flies long haul, when you’re competing against British Airways, which has a much more extensive network.
Even with Delta acquiring a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, profitability at the airline still hasn’t been great. While I enjoy flying with Virgin Atlantic, the reality is that the airline just hasn’t been able to earn a revenue premium over British Airways.
Over the years, we’ve seen Virgin Atlantic cut some of the things that make it unique. Like, remember back when Virgin Atlantic had an inflight massage therapist, so Upper Class passengers would receive a massage? Or when the airline had chauffeur service for Upper Class?
It’s hard for executives at an airline to attribute any sort of revenue to a social space on a plane, when that could otherwise be used to add more seats. Perhaps the one exception is the Emirates A380, where that plane’s bar and showers have created an incredible halo effect for the airline overall, and I think no one can deny the power of that, especially since these amenities are in a part of the plane that can’t otherwise be fully utilized for seats.
Speaking of the bar, I’m reminded of comments that Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson made roughly a year ago. In an interview, he claimed that replacing the inflight bar with The Loft was “a dreadful mistake,” and claimed that Virgin Atlantic will “be bringing back the bar as soon as we possibly can.”
Heck, in the same interview, he claimed that Virgin Atlantic would introduce a new business class product that will be “ridiculously good,” “better than BA first class.”
Suffice it to say that none of that every materialized. I have huge respect for Branson — he’s a creative guy and seems like a genuinely nice person. But he’s definitely one of the billionaires who is more of a dreamer than an actual profit-focused business person. Or maybe he just says what people want to hear, and lets the bean counters bring him back down to earth.
Bottom line
Several years from now, Virgin Atlantic’s iconic inflight bar will be a thing of the past. As Virgin Atlantic reconfigures its Boeing 787s, it’ll also remove any social space, in order to install more seats. Virgin Atlantic has been moving away from the bar concept in recent years, instead embracing the idea of The Loft.
But now the airline will be moving even further away from the social space concept, by eliminating it altogether. I can’t say I’m surprised, but it sure is the end of an era…
What do you make of Virgin Atlantic ditching the inflight bar?
The better the seat/suite, why bother using the bar? I used to fly them weekly JFK-LHR and occasionally on connecting routes. I can’t even count on one hand the number of times I visited the bar…even though it was a cool concept.
Richard makes his fortune by licensing the Virgin name to other companies. Even Virgin Atlantic licenses the name from him. Not many people understand his business structure.
its pretty similar to trump licensing his name also.
Emd of an era indeed. But only an era for that airline, since the bars on their planes weren’t exactly a game changer.
Bummer! I did a Virgin flight one time with the bar. It was overnight, from London, and my daughter got sick on the flight. It was just so nice to relax there, decompress, and schmooze with others
When I worked for JetBlue I went for training at their Orlando office, and on the wall they had a framed quote from Sir Richard about Virgin America: “It’s got to be twice as good as JetBlue and ten times better than anything anyone else has flying now” (drawing on a 16 year old memory, apologies if the wording is off). Branson is a dreamer, and I highly respect him, but dreams don’t always translate...
When I worked for JetBlue I went for training at their Orlando office, and on the wall they had a framed quote from Sir Richard about Virgin America: “It’s got to be twice as good as JetBlue and ten times better than anything anyone else has flying now” (drawing on a 16 year old memory, apologies if the wording is off). Branson is a dreamer, and I highly respect him, but dreams don’t always translate to profit. There’s a reason Virgin America is gone and JetBlue is still around. Don’t get me wrong, I loved VX (paid passenger, not non-rev), but we are all guilty of our eyes being bigger than our stomachs at some point in our lives. I do regret not getting to fly VS at some point in my past life, as well as missing out on the bar, but life happens. Though I’m dying to know, did anyone ever get a proper Vesper at the inflight bar like Daniel Craig in QoS?
Virgin is my long haul airline of choice. Love their service, lounges esp. LHR lounge etc. - it's such a pleasant airline to fly. Biggest issue is their horrible herringbone Upper Class seats. Second biggest issue is extreme fuel surcharges. I usually sit in Upper class right next to the bar and it's noisy at times. Nothing lost by losing the bar. Glad they are replacing the Upper Class seats.
In the 70's, American had a piano/organ in first.
IIRC, PSA Airlines utilized a lower-deck bar and lounge on their L-1011s.
Add the Virgin Atlantic bar to the list of lost airline amenities.
I was disappointed in the loft when I last flew Virgin from London. The bar seemed like a great idea from a more social time, and I wish it were retained.
I think the issue here is that until these new seats or whatever are introduced, the reasons to choose Virgin metal have declined. It's just another business class seat/airline at this point. Delta, British Airways, United, etc are all good options.
I don't think Virgin metal itself has been the appeal, the 787s make that exact case.
Virgin service is overall the best amongst those, they have the best outstation lounge options, the best business class lounge at LHR, their food offerings and FAs are of the highest quality for US to LHR, and they even offer PJs on overnight flights.
The main thing that made them not appealing was the 787 Upper Class, which they...
I don't think Virgin metal itself has been the appeal, the 787s make that exact case.
Virgin service is overall the best amongst those, they have the best outstation lounge options, the best business class lounge at LHR, their food offerings and FAs are of the highest quality for US to LHR, and they even offer PJs on overnight flights.
The main thing that made them not appealing was the 787 Upper Class, which they are now fixing. Once retrofits are done Virgin should be the best point to point airline for LHR imo.
Sorry to disagree but the F&B is inconsistent and on the scale more bad than good. The only decent Clubhouse at the moment is LHR others like IAD and JFK are in need of a refurbishment ( glad JFK is pipped for a refresh) another gripe is Virgins ideology in not offering beef either on the ground or in the air. Iam a virgin fan on certain routes for sure so any improvements on the J offering is most welcome.
The thing is that you get access to the Virgin Clubhouse at LHR on Delta metal. Obviously Delta One Lounge at JFK is better than the Virgin JFK clubhouse. You can debate about service, food, etc, but the differences between the two aren't that great IMO.
British Airways lounges at JFK are fine options (I have never been to the BA lounges at LHR so can't comment). I am sure United is as well.
United doesn’t have lounges at JFK, right?
United does have lounges (or flights!) at JFK. They do have a Polaris lounge at Newark though. They also apparently have a nice United Club (but not Polaris) at LHR.
Realistically, other than Emirates and Qatar, nobody does the bar properly. Within a decade, once the majority of a380s are retired, the bars will most likely disappear as well.
If we follow global beverage trends, then that bar will be swapped for a coffee station.
Maybe the Retreat Suites will be better than BA First, I mean the bar isn't that high afterall!
Upper Class provided a "see and be seen" proposition. These changes will make Virgin like every other airline, operating under the assumption that passengers want privacy. I'm not saying one basis is better-or-worse than the other, but at least Virgin offered the alternative option.
Mixed feelings on this one. I’ve certainly had nice moments at the bar, stretching my legs, etc but I’ve also had multiple flights where the bar is dominated by one annoyingly loud couple (which is especially problematic if seated towards the back).
Alas, better seats significantly outweighs the lack of a bar.
Entirely correct. This is especially a hazard on the JFK-LHR route. All anybody wants to do on that flight is sleep, but if you get stuck with one fool at the bar, you can kiss those hours goodbye. Have a cocktail in the lounge like an adult and go to bed!
The 787 business class has long held back Virgin Atlantic, this is a very necessary step in terms of modernizing its fleet.
Customers don't want to book herringbone. I don't care about a bar when I sleep 80% of the flight to LHR
they are noisy for people that don't want to join in. there aren't that many people that travel in groups in business class anyway.
Branson is an idea man but he is smart enough to surround himself w/ people that understand business. Bringing Delta in as an investor and then JV partner was an admission that the original VS model wasn't sustainable.
btw, DL recorded strong profits and outlook in its 2nd quarter earnings...
they are noisy for people that don't want to join in. there aren't that many people that travel in groups in business class anyway.
Branson is an idea man but he is smart enough to surround himself w/ people that understand business. Bringing Delta in as an investor and then JV partner was an admission that the original VS model wasn't sustainable.
btw, DL recorded strong profits and outlook in its 2nd quarter earnings release and a big part of its year over year improvement was a significant increase in the value of its equity investments.
All my flights on virgin I’ve thought I’d use the bar. But usually sleep or get drinks at my seat
No one is choosing to fly or not fly VS at this point because of a bar. It was nice but getting back to brass tacks is ok here. Still plenty of mood lighting and nice staff and a reliable JFK-LHR schedule.
The bars aren't amazing, and have not been marketed in years. Most times, there's no one even sitting there or using them.