Virgin Atlantic: Up In The Air (Airline Documentary) | Our Stories
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Published 2023-10-22
From its saucy scarlet clad cabin crew to the burlesque ladies that grace its fleet, Virgin Atlantic has always sold itself on being the most fun, aspirational and glamourous way to fly. But since its nineties heyday, the onslaught of low-cost carriers and slick Middle Eastern airlines luring high-end travellers, profits have tumbled. This series will step aboard at a crucial moment in the Virgin story. New CEO Craig Kreeger is determined to turn the business around - staking the future of the airline on sexy new Vivienne Westwood uniforms, new routes and the launch of the Dreamliner plane. But will it be enough to restore Virgin to its former sky-high glory?
This film was first broadcast: 07 Jul 2015
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All Comments (21)
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I was a flight attendant based at Gatwick, and you're right. £12k a year is really low, but worth pointing out that it's the basic salary, meaning If you do not fly for the entire month, you will get £1000 (x12 = £12k). Your salary increases per flight with sector pay (a set amount paid for each leg of your flight ie £90 x 2 for return to Tel aviv = £180 ), hourly rate (paid from wheels up at base, to the aircraft on chocks when you return typically £4 x 72hrs = £288), commission (usually a percentage of all sales on board ie 10% of £4000/8 crew = £50 ), and of-course, expenses (set amount you are paid to spend in each destination based on the cost of living there. I.e £37 a day in tel aviv x 3 days = £111). Thats £629 + 1000 = £1629. So 5-7 trips a month (long haul), or 20-60 flights a month (short haul), depending on the routes can add up to quite a bit. To put that in perspective, the least I earned per month was £1300 (sickness/winter season), and the most I earned was nearly £3000 (summer). Most crew are young or just so starry eyed that they don't work their rota to maximise their pay. I was (aggressively) paying off student and credit card debt (nearly £10 000) and worked my rota every month to get flights that paid well, and were heavy in sales. I left aviation debt free after 3 years, and with enough deposit for an apartment.
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Things have changed a lot since I was a Flight Attendant in the 60th with a Charter Airline. Only went through one emergency landing when the gear didn't come down. It was a Vickers Viking and our guests were elderly ladies flying from Gatwick to Basel/Mulhouse for a trip around Europe. Plenty of time to prepare passengers for the landing since fuel had to be burned off. When the time to land finally came, total silence in the cabin, a last walk through the cabin smiling at our passengers. The landing was noisy as we hit the runway with the belly of the plane , then applause as everything worked out perfect. While waiting for the Bus to pick us up one lady asked me for a Whisky, I promised her a bottle once we get to the terminal. Those Pilots were al flying for the Army before becoming commercial Pilots, they did know their job!
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The qualifications of these cabin attendants... I turned on the Christmas tree! LOL
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The guy interviewing everyone is brilliant, proper funny
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Who’s betting that the singer who must not be looked in the eye is Jennifer Lopez?
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I was not expecting Stan to be like that 😂😂😂
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The warehouse guys are a scream. They are very efficient. They got the new uniforms to HQ in good time. The top warehouse guys should get the new jackets in their size presented personally by Richard Branson.
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Flew to Florida and back on Tinker Bell back in 2017. Miss the 747 ♥️
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They would love me , I’m a navy pilot, pretty , fit , BUT 71 😂. GO NAVY 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
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I am shocked that customer service actually spoke with the customer, apologized for the error and gave them vouchers….I am going to see what I can do to use this airline in the future!
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Fascinating! Thanks for producing this video! My respect for airline staff has risen even higher than the mountain of respect I had before viewing this amazing production ❤️
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I just watch this I loved it I am hoping to get London in future I am saving it will take 2 yrs but I will get there
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You go Katrina. You look great.
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Love the flying nanny, she will do great!
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I was curious and hopeful for their success, so I did a little research and discovered that VAA has been reporting losses since 2016 in the millions! That makes me so sad.
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Those 'upper class' herringbone seats on the 787 are quite unpopular, a trip hazard and lack of privacy. VS is scheduled to replace them soon.
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You just don't realize how awesome a view is until you're in a helicopter. That was so cool thank you for bringing us along it really made my day. Your first officer was so cute when you told her that was the Eiffel Tower, ok I must admit I thought it was the Eiffel Tower also until I remembered where y'all were. This was a great video thank you so much for sharing😊.
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The newest plane is being manufactured in my hometown!
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"Obviously, not a good idea to put teal people in this Test". Spoken like a true engineer! 😜 🤣
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Sorry I miss the days of PAM and TWA days !
