Plea from Virgin America

[Bazz]

As I am the mailing list I received an intersting email this morning. Virgin America are hoping to solicit support to help beat the DoT.

Dear Friend,

Your friends at Virgin America are getting closer to taking off, but we need your help to clear our final hurdle. Late in 2006, The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) tentatively rejected Virgin America's airline application. We responded to the DOT today but, the fight is not over. We need your help as we continue our application process, with the ultimate goal of bringing you a better choice in air travel.

We have built a site, http://www.letVAfly.com where you can learn about our application process with the DOT and join our fight to bring the glamour back to air travel. We believe, when you see our In-Flight Entertainment options and take a tour of our cabins, you will understand the Virgin America Difference and the need to stand up for better choices in travel.

Well I've signed the petition - if you change pages you can sign it again - dont know if it wil register IP addresses and I had to pretend I live in Florida - life is hard in the internet world!!!

Just a quick point - the link in Bazz's post above doesnt work because of the comma after .com so I have shortened it so it works below! ( hope you dont mind Bazz!)

Sign the Petition

I've just signed the petition too. [y]

[Bazz]

No problem Mark, I will also alter the original quote, I had already added the www to it but missed the comma - doh!

[ChuckC]

The mailing was a welcome addition to my inbox yesterday. Hopefully Virgin America will grace our skies soon!

Chuck-

I signed the petition and also emailed all my representitives in Congress, etc. I hope VX gets off the ground.

I had to pretend I live in Florida - life is hard in the internet world!!!

I went for CA[:I]:)

VS.

I got a E-mail back from my Senator.

Thank you for contacting me regarding your support for Virgin America 's expansion into domestic airspace . I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the United States Department of Transportation recently denied Virgin America's application for U.S. airline carrier status , which would have allowed the carrier to offer airline service to all domestic routes .

Under the Federal Aviation Act, a company must show that at least 75 percent of the voting interest is owne d or controlled by U.S. citizens in order to be certificated as a U.S. airline carrier

According to a report from the United States Department of Transportation, Virgin America's airline application was tentatively denied U.S. carrier status due to the fact that a majority of Virgin America 's voting interest is controlled by companies that are foreign owned.

Currently there is no legislation regarding this matter pending in the Senate. If and when it comes to the Senate floor, I will carefully consider it and keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you again for sharing your views with me. Please feel free to contact me with anything that is important to you or your family. It is an honor to serve you and the people of South Carolina .

Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
United States Senator

{Edited by Bazz to remove some white space and make more readable.}