VIRGIN AMERICA announced yesterday that they are enterin the Chicago market. As part of their announcement, unveiled a Groupon deal that touted "reliable, stylish service" and slashed prices on its new West Coast flights to $128 round trip. The deal sold out within 8 minutes. Within 45 minutes, Virgin's Groupon offer also had sold out in San Francisco and Los Angeles, for a total of 2100 tickets. Virgin America CEO David Cush promised that the carrier would continue to shake up competition with deep discounts, like its introductory $99 one-way fare on service that begins May 25 from Chicago OHare to Los Angeles and San Francisco. "When we enter markets, fares drop. That's a fact," Cush said at a press conference at Chicago City Hall. Although it is struggling to gain profitability, Virgin America is making a splash with its new aircraft, Wi-Fi, mood lighting and a knack for marketing that's a hallmark of carriers associated with Richard Branson. The billionaire will be on hand to launch the 1st Chicago flight. Still, Virgin America faces its toughest challenge in Chicago, where the San Francisco-based carrier's 5 daily flights will be dwarfed by UNITED and AMERICAN AIRLINES at OHare and SOUTHWEST AIRLINES at Midway Airport.
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