Article from BTNews 20 JUNE 2016
Virgin America to live on?
The success of airlines in Europe in retaining separate identities after takeovers and mergers could save the Virgin America brand in the US.
Alaska Airlines, which is bidding to buy Virgin America for $2.6bn (BTN----), is said to be considering keeping the name because of strong loyalties by passengers of both carriers.
No decision has been made but Alaska’s CEO, Brad Tilden, said last week: “We are looking at that because we do believe in the power of the Virgin America brand, and we don't want to lose all that loyalty and revenue that exists today.”
Although mergers in the US tend to result in the loss of the brand taken over, Tilden said he noted that European carriers had kept their identities in similar circumstances.
He cited the Lufthansa Group, which along with Lufthansa itself includes Swiss and Austrian Airlines, while Air France and KLM operated as separate carriers despite common ownership and International Airlines Group ran several brands including British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus.
Tilden said he might therefore keep the Virgin America brand and run it and Alaska Airlines as separate products within the same group.
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