Virgin America’s Low Key Inaugural SFO to Dallas Love Field

[Carfield]

Virgin America’s Low Key Inaugural SFO to Dallas Love Field


Just want to write a short trip report on Virgin America’s Inaugural flight to Dallas Love Field! Since it was a relatively low-key (or even non-) event, I was not going to expand much on a very familiar routing on Virgin America. I guess since Virgin America has been serving the Dallas market for a while, the shift to another airport is not a big deal. Plus there was a special flight that morning from DFW to Dallas Love Field, and all the media focused on that flight with no paid passengers. I will be outright lying if I tell you that I am not disappointed, but given the recent events happening to my birth city, Hong Kong, this low profile event was more appropriate. Nonetheless I am very impressed with the new terminal TWO at Dallas Love Field, and Virgin America has a nice setup here at DAL.

October 13, 2014; Monday
VX 710 SFO-DAL Lv0720 Arr1240 Airbus A319-100 N526VA “Jane”

I arrived at SFO’s Terminal Two around 6am, and the airport was already fairly busy. Thankfully the first class lane only had one passenger in front of me. I was checked in shortly after, and my two large check-in bags were tagged to Dallas Love Field with priority tags attached. The check-in agent was friendly, but there was no mention about the inaugural flight. It was sign of what was not coming. Gate 51A was today’s gate, and the flight was 100% full. There were a few passengers asking if this was the inaugural flight to Love Field, and the agent said, “yes.” It was just like a typical busy Monday morning flight to Love Field.




Boarding began at 6:46am and I immediately settled into my seat 2A. A few cabin shot with mood lighting!



Pre-takeoff beverage was offered this morning, with headsets already pre-placed at each seat.

After everyone was seated, the captain came out from the flight deck and made an announcement about the flight. He was the only one, who mentioned that it was the first Virgin America’s passenger carrying flight into Dallas Love Field.



Door was closed early at 7:15am.



We taxied towards R/W1R a few minutes later, and there was a short queue for takeoff this morning, but we took off from R/W1R at 7:34am.

A few beautiful shots after departing SFO:

[Carfield]

Flying time was two hours and fifty-six minutes with a cruising attitude of 37,000feet.
I described today’s breakfast service as efficient. The first class F/A passed out printed menus after we passed 10,000feet, and took our beverage and entrée order at the same time. Most people chose the Omelet option. She then passed out hot towel at 7:53am, and then served beverage, bottled water, and breakfast all together in one tray at 8:11am. There was no separate beverage service.

Here is the printed menu transcript:
October 2014
Virgin America First Class
Eastbound

Breakfast
Flights departing before 10am
Chive Cheese Omelet
Omelet made with chives, Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheeses, served with orange and purple herb roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed shiitake mushrooms, sugar snap peas with chicken apple sausage
Served with a fruit salad of orange, mango, blackberries, strawberries with toasted silvered almonds and honey cardamom syrup
Contains eggs, poultry, dairy, and nuts



Or
Hot Steel Cut Oatmeal
Organic Steel Cut oatmeal served with optional dried apricots, currants, almonds and brown sugar.
Contains optional nuts and brown sugar.

Snacks Anytime
Westbound flight over four hours
Top Shelf Bites
Nibble on a spread of delectable snacks throughout the flight

It was interesting to note that breakfast bread/pastries were no longer offered. I found it to be pretty strange, as breads seem to be pretty important part of a typical American breakfast.

The F/A did a quick snack basket passing after everything was clear.

It was a fairly beautiful day till we got closer to Texas!


A final snack basket was offered at 9:50am/11:50am Texas time.

Descent began at Noon, and the weather in Dallas was cloudy with strong winds.



Passing City of Dallas



We landed on R/W31R at 12:30pm.




I spotted N530VA, one of the two Virgin America’s A319s that I have yet to fly, on the tarmac. I later found out that N530VA did an official inaugural flight from DFW to DAL earlier in the morning.

[Carfield]

The new terminal at Dallas Love Field – of course a Southwest dominated ground



Virgin America’s new “home” at Dallas Love Field – Gate 11 and 13


Gate 11 was our gate this afternoon. The flight would return to SFO in an hour.
There were many ground staffs in the ramp, as they were learning about serving a Virgin America’s plane.


N526VA “Jane” – heading back to SFO in an hour


A few shots of Gate 11 including a wall of pictures commemorating Virgin America and its entry into Love Field





A tray of cupcakes were left out for Dallas Love Field passengers



Heading to Baggage Claim – four carousels but Virgin America was not featured on the sign. There were some problems, but bags ended up coming out from Carousel 2. The bags came out from Carousel number 2 at 12:54pm, and the priority tag worked.

[Carfield]

Virgin America’s Baggage Office


October 13, 2014; Monday
VX 879 DAL-LAX Lv1450 Arr1600 Airbus A319-100 N528VA “Fog Cutter”

Virgin America’s Main Check-in area




Familiar Virgin America’s check-in kiosks


New Premium Check-in area/lounge for Virgin America’s Elevate Gold & First Class passengers
It was very impressive to offer such a fancy check-in area for premium passengers. The agent was very friendly, and she even took care of your bags by bring them over to the main check-in area. It was a very chic living room with fancy sofa and lounge chair.

[Carfield]

Gate 13 was the other Virgin America’s gate, and N528VA just arrived from LAX at 2:05pm.





Virgin America scheduled a relatively short 45 minutes turnaround time at Dallas for these medium haul flights. With a huge amount of ramp staffs, it was no problem to get this flight out on time. Boarding began at 2:28pm, and Brendan, a very friendly first class F/A, welcomed passengers on board, and pre-takeoff beverage was offered. I even got a refill of Coke Zero. That was impressive. Door was closed on time at 2:51pm and the pilot made his welcome speech in front of the cabin. I always find it a nice gesture for the captain to come out from the flight deck to make the welcome speech. It makes it more personal. Then a few minutes later, the captain told us that since there were eleven connecting passengers coming from a delayed Washington DC Reagan flight next door, they decided to wait for them. But there was actually a 5pm flight to LAX. Anyway, it was a nice gesture. Those connecting passengers definitely appreciated the nice gesture, and it also showed me that DAL could be a good hub for Virgin America to connecting two city airports in the East Coast (LGA and DCA) with SFO and LAX via DAL. Considered today was the first day of operation, there were already eleven passengers flying from DCA to LAX via DAL.

Door was closed at 3:13pm and we pushed back two minutes later. We began to taxi towards R/W31L a few minutes later. The airport was relatively quiet this afternoon.



We took off from R/W31L at 3:25pm.
We passed by DFW – sorry about the cloud layer


Flying time was two hours and forty minutes, with a cruising attitude of 32,000feet.

The service on this flight was extraordinary and Brendan was working pretty much nonstop for the first half of the flight. Nothing was too much hassle. Menus were first passed out with entrée order being taken. Each course was served individually with no tray used at all. Some Virgin America F/As prefer the efficient serving style by serving everything in one tray. Hot towels were offered twice – one before lunch and one prior to arrival!

Linen was first placed on each table, along with utensils and beverage!


Here was the full transcript for lunch (also dinner):
Appetizer
Orange Pistachio Salad
Mizzuna and Belgian Endive mix topped with orange segments, pistachio nuts, and chervil served with a fig, muscatel vinaigrette
Contains nuts.

[Carfield]

Entrées
Grilled Fillet of Beef
Grilled beef filet served with wilted arugula, sautéed leeks and wild mushroom medley, charred herb corn topped with a demi port balsamic jus
Contains beef



Or
Deconstructed Vegetable Pot Pie
Roasted Idaho potatoes and butternut squash, sautéed button mushrooms, roasted baby carrots and sautéed kale with a sage, thyme, Bechamel sauce and served with a togarashi dusted puff pastry.
Contains dairy and optional wheat.

Dessert
Cherry Almond Bar by Sweet Lady Jane
A flavorful mix of sour cherries and wholesome sliced almonds amidst a flaky butter pastry



Main Classics
Take a bite out of our Main Cabin menu items

Pastrami on Marble Rye Sandwich
Enjoy a classic on marbled rye, topped with sliced beef pastrami, caramelized yellow onions, Swiss cheese, and kale-broccoli slaw in a horseradish cream sauce
Served with a Dijon mustard packet and a Nib Mor Dark Chocolate square
Contains dairy, wheat, and nuts

Artisan Cheese Plate (Travel Light)
Feeling puckish? Try this light sampling of smoked Gouda, mild Cheddar, Muenster, and Camembert cheeses, nestled alongside a green grape cluster, dried apple, and apricot.
Served with gluten-free olive oil and sea salt crackers.
Contains dairy

Protein Plate
Get your dose of protein with a cage-free hard-boiled egg, smoked Gouda, mild Cheddar, and Muenster cheeses, a grilled chicken breast slice, red grape tomatoes, carrot, celery, and cucumber batons, wheat mini pita rounds, and a green grape cluster. Served with Greek yogurt hummus.
Contains wheat, poultry, and dairy

Autumn Veggie Wrap
Taste a bit of the season in this lemon pesto salad with farro dressed in edamame and roasted red pepper hummus, baby spinach, roasted butternut squash and zucchini mixed with crumbled feta cheese, all wrapped in a spinach tortilla. Served with a tropical fruit salad of pineapple, grape, mango, and strawberry.
Contains dairy and wheat

Snacks Anytime
Top Shelf Bites
Nibble on a spread of delectable snacks throughout the flight.

The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful and all the live television channels were working today on the RED system.

Descent began at 3:43pm PST!



We landed on R/W24R at 4:05pm, and parked at gate 37B at 4:10pm.
This plane would return to Dallas Love Field in fifty minutes.
It took only ten minutes for check-in bags to roll out, and priority tags worked again.

A farewell shot of N528VA at LAX


In conclusion, today’s inaugural flights were very uneventful but the new terminal at Love Field was very impressive with many food outlets and shops. I hope the inaugural from New York La Guardia on October 28 will feature more festivities.

Carfield