VIRGIN'S NEW HOME

Virgin America just got a new home and Jaunted live-blogged about it. All I did was wait for the images to refresh. All day long. So a special thanks to them for providing these great shots of the opening.

In the works, for quite some time, has been the construction of T2, the new Virgin America home. It's set to "...entice foodies, delight the techies, [and] satisfy those with an eye for sustainable design..." With Pinkberry, Burger Joint, a new AA Lounge that's supposed to be incredible...it looks like we're headed back to the "Pan Am, Catch Me If You Can" days of airline terminals.

You'll note that I recently spoke about how airport terminals were going more local, well T2 is no doubt doing the same. Of course, running Virgin America (which is based in Burlingame...minutes from SFO) there is a pretty local feat, they are also tapping into a lot of the same design aspects as SJC airport. With power outlets "everywhere", local art murals and a big push for a lower carbon footprint (a la much of California), they seem to really be playing to the Bay Area audience. They've also incorporated a whole wooden/forest-ish backdrop at their ticketing counter, reflecting much of the surrounding areas and northern California's famous redwood forests. With water bottle filling stations and slow food vendors, this terminal is bound to be a new favorite.

Two of the coolest things that happened with the opening would have to be the escorting in of the first Virgin America flight to land at T2 by Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnight2. This is Richard Branson's most recent endeavor, shuttling (all puns intended) civilians into space. The great/cool thing about SFO is that they can do parallel take offs and landings, so the WhiteKnight2 was alongside the Airbus A320 the whole way in.

The other, really interesting thing, was that they flew the oldest flying plane in the world for the opening. An American Airlines 1937 DC-3. Hold on...I need a minute to re-collect my thoughts.

Hopefully, with the opening of T2 and the recent surge of local additions to airport terminals, we'll start to see some much classier, user-friendly airports. All I know is, adding a Wolfgang Puck cart to a terminal but making me sit on the floor to use an outlet normally reserved for a vacuum cleaner, is not my idea of fun. Airports...you know who you are. But I'll do it anyway. Yeah...

For more info and photos, check out Jaunted's article about the opening of the new T2 here.

-Justin