Branson ‘ready to launch US carrier’

Sir Richard Branson is reportedly ready to launch a no-frills carrier in the United States, and “wants the first plane to fly early next year”. The Guardian, reporting that the tycoon is ready to float off another of his businesses, Virgin Mobile, and that the cash raised would be enough to pay for the setting up of a new carrier. The newspaper reports that Virgin Blue, the carrier he set up in Australia in 1999 with an initial investment of GBP4 million, has “already yielded GBP350 million in cash”. It goes on to state that Branson has already recruited a chief executive for the new venture, but that his or her name will not be released yet because they are still in another job – and that the new carrier will be called Virgin USA or Virgin America. A spokesman reportedly told The Guardian: “In some ways, Blue in Australia was a rehearsal for Virgin USA – it showed it could be done.” The report also strikes a more ominous note – at least for some of Branson’s potential competitors in the United States, stating: “Branson’s theory is that the US administration is finally ready to let one or more members of the established but creaking American airline industry – American, United, Delta and US Airways – go bust. Well-capitalised airlines that don’t ask for handouts should be welcome.”