During Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural flight to Tel Aviv last year, Branson described the carrier as his first love, and one for which his passion had been rekindled in recent years after the sale of a 49% stake to Delta Air Lines Inc. The move opened up new markets, and a slew of new planes and routes rejuvenated its product offering under Weiss, who took over as CEO in January 2019.
Branson was so bullish on Virgin’s prospects prior to the coronavirus outbreak that in December he pulled the plug on a deal to sell 31% of the carrier to Delta ally Air France-KLM, hanging on to his majority holding.
As a key player in a North Atlantic travel market that remains the industry’s most lucrative, especially on high-profile New York-London services, the business also projects the Virgin name more effectively than any other -- at least until its space sibling begins transporting celebrities and the super-rich to the brink of space.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.