The Virgin America brand will be dropped in 2019, Alaska Airlines announced Wednesday, three months after completing a $2.6-billion acquisition of the low-cost airline. Alaska Airlines had previously explored the idea of maintaining both brands. “While the Virgin America name is beloved to many, we concluded that to be successful on the West Coast we had to do so under one name — for consistency and efficiency, and to allow us to continue to deliver low fares,” Sangita Woerne, Alaska Alaska Airlines’ vice president of marketing, said in a statement. Alaska said it would keep a number of Virgin amenities that have made it a favorite among fliers, including enhanced in-flight entertainment, music and its signature mood lighting. Since closing the sale, Alaska has announced routes to 21 new markets in its effort to be the dominant airline on the U.S. West Coast.
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