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ALSO INSIDE: Lynn Mallare’s daughter is a television Bridezilla! Consumer Reports picks us as America’s best airline Virgin shows support for civil rights at SF Pride Parade

VOL. 1, NO. 7 JULY 1, 2013 A BI-MONTHLY GUEST SERVICES NEWSLETTER BY AND FOR VIRGIN AMERICA’S SFO STATION

Not just an airport but an art gallery

Brad Fowler’s rabid badger sign at the gates went viral on the internet.

By Steve Freitag Virgin America GSTs often try to be creative and fun with their gate signs, but sometimes a sign really takes off and attracts national attention, from being passed around web sites like Reddit and Imgur to the pages of national magazines such as Entertainment Weekly. Brad Fowler’s FID sign that “a rabid badger will be released at the rear of the aircraft” was one such internet hit, appearing on dozens of sites and garnering much favorable attention to Virgin for its cheeky, saucy attitude. “I had no idea what had happened,” said Fowler after his sign first started attracting attention. “Molly (Lynn) sent me the link and said, you’ve got to see this.” “Months later it still shows up on my

Reddit stream,” said Lynn. Fowler said he was surprised the sign attracted as much attention as it did, because he had used the joke before at his previous airline, Frontier, but just as an announce- ment, not as a physical sign.

“It was ‘what can I say that the people who are actually paying attention will laugh at’,” Fowler said. Virgin HQ loved the attention when it started to trend on Twitter, Fowler said, and it was posted on various Virgin web

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Creative signs get national attention

By Elmer Tosta From the first etching on a cave wall in prehistoric times, public art has been a part of our surroundings. The inclusion of art in public spaces pays tribute to diverse cultures, craftsmanship, and the wealth of artistic talent willing to compete for a commission. And why, you might ask, is SFO’s public art program one of the largest and most recognized in the nation? The answer lies in the 1969 City Arts Enrichment Ordinance, which specifies 2% of the qualifying construction budget must be devoted to public art.

The public art we enjoy today is carried over from the 19th century trend of monuments as tributes to nationalism, such as statues of war heroes or monuments to civic leaders or other historic events. The civil rights movement in the '60s, followed by the radicalism of the '70s, changed the notion of public art to one that more closely reflects the public interest and culture rather than celebrating a moment in history. San Francisco’s City Arts Enrichment Ordinance mentioned above was one of the first steps in securing funding for an aggressive public arts program that required every civic project to include public art, which includes SFO. The ordinance has insured funding not only for acquisition, but for ongoing maintenance of all the permanent art installations at the airport as well as a number of paintings and sculptures that are on display.

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New hires show their support for Care to Share

Consumer Reports names Virgin America as nation’s best

Teammates met at The Office in San Carlos recently to celebrate with food, drink and bocce balls the departure of

Geraldine Posadas and Joyce Manolo to the San Jose station. Clockwise from left are Nikki Zavoral-Fitzpatrick,

Geraldine Posadas, former supervisor Leilani Oster, Claudia Umili, Jackie White-Leung, Joyce Manolo and Sue Wilk. At

right, Cynthia Portilla, Lisa Padian, Jackie White-Leung and Kat McIntyre kiss George Maseda goodbye as he too

departs for San Jose.

One hundred percent of the new hires who joined Virgin America’s SFO station in May have signed up for Care to Share, the Virgin America charity that helps teammates in need, said Sue Wilk, SFO’s Care to Share ambassador. “I thought that was so cool, said Wilk. “Some of them joined on their own” even before being approached, “but all of them joined. That’s a first.” Care to Share helps Virgin teammates in crisis times, such as when teammates lose their homes to fire or have unexpected, crushing financial difficulties. Due to confidentiality rules, the charity cannot divulge the details

of who has received help or what their reasons were, but Wilk said “We’re really helping teammates in some really bad situations.” “It’s not about giving your money away. It’s only a buck a paycheck,” Wilk said. “It’s about helping out a teammate who may be your best friend today, but two months from now, they may need help.” Contact Wilk or Shauna Davis-Kelly at HQ in order to sign up for Care to Share. Participants are eligible to wear their Care To Share T-shirts during certain workdays.

-- Steve Freitag

Influential purchasing magazine Consumer Reports named Virgin America as the country’s best airline in its July issue. Our airline made its debut in the magazine’s annual ranking of airlines at the top of the list, above Southwest, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Alaska and several others. American, United and Spirit made up the bottom three of the list. The magazine cited “some of the highest scores we’ve seen in years” for Virgin, which received top scores in all categories, from checkin-ease, cabin service and cleanliness to baggage handling and in-flight entertainment.

entertainment. The only less-than-stellar grade was in seating comfort, but no other airline achieved a higher grade in that department. Virgin was also the only airline to get the highest score possible in baggage handling. Virgin was also cited for the ease of finding information on the web site for baggage and other fees, the magazine said. To follow up the Consumer Reports ranking, Virgin America once again was named Best Domestic Airline last week by Travel & Leisure magazine, for the sixth year in a row, a record for a domestic airline.

-- Steve Freitag

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Airport or art museum?

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Two organizations are responsible for the temporary exhibits and permanent installations at SFO: the SFO Museum (SFOM), which is familiar to those team mates who worked at the International terminal before our move to T2, and the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC). The SFO Museum was created in 1980 and was the first cultural institution devoted to temporary exhibits at an airport. In addition to the Aviation Museum and Library, located in the International Terminal, A side, the SFO Museum is responsible for temporary exhibitions at 20 locations throughout all four terminals. The mission of the SFOM is to humanize the airport environment and celebrate the culture of the Bay Area. SFOM began as a collaboration with the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (The deYoung and the Legion of Honor), and was so successful that their organization was formally recognized after one year. The SFAC was created by the City Charter in 1932 and is responsible for the permanent collection of art on display at SFO and other public spaces within the City and County of San Francisco. There are over 60 pieces of art on display from the permanent collection at SFO and approximately another 17 on reserve. Some of the works are purchased after being completed; while others are commissioned for specific spaces, such as the 3 large signature pieces in T2, as well as the 2 interactive works in the boarding area (can you identify them?). These works are financed according to the rules of the 1969 City Arts Enrichment Ordinance mentioned earlier. When works are commissioned, a national request for proposal is published. Proposals are evaluated, and the commissions are selected from those proposals that meet the criteria of the request. Some of the criteria include craftsmanship, appropriateness, experience level of artist up to level of commission, and professional competence. The list is much longer, but this gives an idea of the demands on the artist. Continue to enjoy, along with the 40 million plus travelers a year who pass through our terminals, the permanent and temporary exhibits, which range from painting and sculpture to board games, record albums and airline history. Check out the web sites for updates, and challenge yourself with the name game on page 4. What would you have etched on the wall of your cave? For more information on art exhibits and installations at SFO, check out these web sites: http://www.sfartscommission.org/ http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/sfo_museum/ NEXT ISSUE: T2, the crown jewel in SFO’s art program.

A “Beach Blanket Babylon” hat, from the long-running campy San Francisco musical, was on display in the international terminal this past spring and included hat-sized landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, the TransAmerica pyramid building, Chinatown and SFO airport itself. Below, a vintage board game from a temporary exhibit in Terminal 2 this past spring.

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What’s that artwork called, anyway? Test your name association skills with a few of the permanent art works from the pre-screening areas of our SFO Terminals. See if you can match the title/artist with the work. Good luck!

A______ B______

C__ ___ D ______

1. Bruce Beaseley, The Hesperides 2. Rufino Tamayo, Conquest of Space 3. Joyce Kozloff, Bay Area Victorian, Bay Area Deco, Bay Area Funk 4. Ik-Joong Kang, Gateway

Answers: A4, B3, C1, D2

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How do you get gate-checked bags?

What phrasing do you use? How do you entice our guests to give up their bags on full flights? What's your secret? GSTs were asked how they would answer these questions. Here are their responses … none of them this time in limerick form! I usually say "This helps the boarding process go faster and helps us to get your plane out of here on time, and I know you all want to be on time if not early!" Also, "If you are already going to baggage claim in _____ help us out, be a dear and volunteer." And finally, “If you offer to volunteer your bag we will offer you a reward in the form of early boarding with group B."

-- Lora Reichhold

I simply tell our guests, "...if you are in seating group D, E, or F, we typically run out of overhead bin space by the time those three groups are called..." It works! – Bethany Castro

I tell them, "Don't kill the messenger!" "Come one, come all!" – Carol Carpinelli

For full flights, advise guests in boarding group E & F the odds are against them for overhead bin space to still be available, so you might as well check your carry-on before boarding begins. Or. ask the guests if they are tired of "lugging around" their carry-on bag -- let us relieve you of that bag by checking it at the gate. -- Ray Wong

When I address my audience like I did on the full PHL flight this morning, which was stuck on a GDP due to weather in

PHL, I collected 20 gate check bags and I accomplished it like this: " Welcome everyone in the gate area for your flight to PHL. My name is Joanie. First off, on behalf of Virgin America, we are very happy that you are flying with us today. I have an operational update from our operations office, and unfortunately we are going to be slightly delayed due to weather in PHL. At this time, I am going to ask for volunteers to gate check their bags. If you checked any bags at the ticket counter, you will be heading to baggage claim to collect your bags. As you can see our planes are SUPER CUTE but not large enough inside to accommodate all the carry-on bags for your flight. Please, come and see me and

HAPPY MOTHERS ON THEIR DAY – Celebrating Mother’s Day in May at SFO are, from left, Christine Wascholl, Claudia Umili, Kayla Smith, soon-to-be-mom Kerry Szerenyi, Stefanie Lewis and Joanie Raffo.

THE FATE OF THE WORLD SERIES IS IN THEIR HANDS – GSTs Fran Torres and Natalie Bouscal cradle the Giants’ World Series trophy recently at SFO.

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I will gladly gate check your bag for you, have it meet you at baggage claim and get you on board the aircraft a little early because you do not need over head bin space. Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it and again thank you for choosing Virgin America today.” This approach usually collects me 15-20 gate check bags on average. – Joanie Raffo

I usually do 2 things. First, I put it on my GIDS. This is what I write: "Hello beautifuls! FULL FLIGHT today, gate checked bags are welcomed." Normally several people will come up. And then after I do my welcome announcement, I like to throw in one about the bags. My wording is different every time, but for the most part all I say is: "Since this is going to be a full flight today, we do anticipate that we will run out of overhead bin space towards the end of boarding. So if you want to help us out or if you feel like going onboard the aircraft hands free, come see us here at the podium. We can gate check your large items for you and you can pick it up at baggage claim when you get to (location). We'd greatly appreciate it, as this will help us expedite our boarding process and get you on your way faster. So if you are interested, like I said, come see us here at the podium before we begin boarding.” – Bernadine Lopez

The WOW Committee sponsored a bingo night in May at The Knockout in San Francisco. According to a spokesman, the group played for the three "D's" -- Dignity, Drinks and Dorky prizes.

At left, holding up their bingo cards, are Annette Margolis, Carolyn Giusti, supervisor Ian Lordi, Peishou Liu and Andre Lara. At bottom left, after Peishou won a bag of ring pops playing bingo, Ian popped the question to the blushing Peishou, using one of her own ring pops. At right, the bingo cards used during the course of the evening.

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Virgin America once again served as the official domestic airline of late June’s San Francisco Pride parade, with a theme this year of “Fly Empowered” and a float that evoked the Roaring ‘20s and The Great Gatsby. Teammate DJ Elliott Hall spun the music, teammates danced to Fergie’s “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody,” and guest celebrities included Detox, Willam and Vicky Vox from RuPaul’s Drag Race. The celebration was especially happy this year after recent Supreme Court decisions struck down both Prop 8, allowing same-sex weddings again in California, and the Defense of Marriage Act, allowing the Federal government to recognize marriages in states that permitted them and thus giving gay and lesbian couples the same civil rights as other married couples. Photos courtesy of Benjamin Eye

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Jojo’s daughter shows jealous streak on cable’s Bridezillas We TV’s Bridezillas program shows brides in all their self-involved glory – and if you caught a recent episode of the 10th (and final) season, you might have recognized our own Jocelyn Mallare and her daughter Joraine, who was the featured bride of episode four. Joraine came off as a bit of a controlling personality – even ordering a cake shaped like male anatomy to shame her fiancé for dancing with other women at his bachelor party – but don’t take my word for it. Even the one sentence recap of the episode on the We web site was this: “Critical Bridezilla Joraine redefines the word whipped with manslave Mark. “ The U-verse cable TV guide synopsis also came down on Joraine: “Castigating Bridezilla Joraine runs her man through the wedding gauntlet in an eye-opening glimpse of his grim future.” The We web site went on: “Joraine may be a ‘goddess’ in the eyes of her fiancé Marc, but upon taking a closer look, she appears to simply beat him into submission. The theme of this Bridezilla’s wedding is ‘Better Than Yours’ and she believes that it should be nothing short of spectacular. However, when it comes to exacting revenge on her fiancé for his shenanigans, she has no problem dropping her classy act and resorting to violence and child-like behavior. Marc claims not to mind her tendency towards physical violence, but when she flies off the handle after he forgot to send the seating chart to the venue, she takes it a step too far. Will Marc be at the altar when this feisty Bridezilla walks down the aisle? Or will he decide he’s had enough, and free himself from her domineering ways?” Catch the excitement in constant reruns on the We channel … or corner Jojo at work and ask her how it all came out!

Creative gate signs attract national attention (continued from page 1)

Lynn Mallare, left, watches her daughter Joraine yell at her fiancé Marc over the telephone on We TV’s “Bridezillas” program.

sites, including the Facebook page of Virgin Atlantic. “It’s very Virgin – irreverent!” said Lynn. Fowler said he couldn’t believe how long the internet fame lasted. “Just when it seemed like it’s died down, it would pop up again” – most recently on Buzzfeed, he said. It’s also been cited in a news story titled “Snarky, Hip and Inspirational: The Real Story Behind Three Airline Brands,” that mentioned other Virgin gate signs such as a recent one in Las Vegas: “Let’s get our story straight: We’re all in Cincinnati, right?” Also noted in that story was a sign posted last year by

Claudio Brescia: “You’ve got to FIGHT … for your FLIGHT … to DEPAAAAARRTY!” Coming a week after the death of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, it was seen as a tribute to the late musician and wound up on the Entertainment Weekly page as well as other sites. Sometimes the internet isn’t aware that Virgin is proud of its cheeky, smart humor. Fowler’s badger sign was also recently cited in a story on “24 People Daring Their Bosses To Fire Them.” The photo of me in my pajamas on April Fool’s Day (see Virgin Villager #6) didn’t attract quite the same attention, although it was shared dozens of times on Facebook and garnered several hundred “likes.” But as the saying goes, any publicity (for your company) is better than no publicity. Also attracting attention on the internet recently was the outcome of a bet Sir Richard Branson had with the airline boss of Air Asia. Sir Richard lost, and had to dress up as a female in-flight for an Air Asia charity flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur. Also attracting attention on Reddit and Imgur recently was a series of imaginary (?) conversations on Virgin America’s in-flight chat rooms: 21A: My Heart Burns With Passion For You 21A: I Must See You Tonight

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Look for Virgin America to start flying to Hawaii in 2015, according to a press release from April. I’m especially looking forward to this because I’ve been to 49 states, and Hawaii will make 50! I still haven’t been! Anybody else here been to all 50 states? Has anyone else noticed that when leadership orders pizza for GSTs recently – we’re actually getting some really good pizza? We used to get the $5 cheapo special from Pizza Hut, which was little better than cardboard, but now we’re getting pizza that I’d actually go out and order in a restaurant. Interesting from VXellence: bags containing medical devices can be checked at no charge but ONLY if they contain no other items. Otherwise it’d be like checking in a baby stroller bag that contained a family’s other traveling items – just a way to avoid

paying a bag fee. Also from VXellence: while we prefer that non-revving teammates make travel changes in myIDTravel, sometimes it’s not possible, so we should help them out at the gate or wherever. Sometimes we don’t help each other out as much as we could … recently I was flying out of LAX and the lobby host sent me to the First Class line. The teammate in First Class sent me back to Full Service. The lobby host pulled me out and chewed out the guy in First Class. The

lesson here: let’s all be on the same page out there. And obey the lobby host.

This seventh edition of THE VIRGIN VILLAGER was edited by Steve Freitag, with our usual editorial board of Suzette Rabano, Sue Wilk, Ian McFaul, Elmer Tosta, and photos by a host of others. Supervisor Kelvin Chirapornsuk is our overseer. Join this exclusive club and contribute to our next issue, which should be out around September 1. Send your contributions (photos and stories) to stephen.freitag@virginamerica.com and you too can get your name in print! And maybe win a meal voucher!

(continued from previous page) 21C: It hurts my soul that we are apart my love 21C: we shall be together one day 21B: HOLY CRAP YOU TWO 21B: IF YOU REALLY WANT TO SWITCH SEATS JUST ASK ME Another one: 10C has entered the chat 17F: Hey are you 10C 10C: Yes :) 17F: because you’re the only 10 that I see 10C: :) 10C has left the chat 17F: damnit Another one: 17F: hey there, sailor boy 17F: Is that a complimentary in-flight snack in your pocket or are you happy to see me :) 14B: it’s a snack actually 14B: Chex Mix 17F: oh 17F: can I have some? :) 17F: maybe have you for a snack too 14B: Stop talking to me I’m eating Chex Mix

And one final one: 6F: What do you mean you don’t love me 12B: It’s over Chad 6F: I gave you everything I bought you a drink the moment I met you 12B: IT WAS A SPRITE ZERO, CHAD 6F: the zero stands for zero calories 12B: IT ALSO STANDS FOR HOW MUCH IT COSTS ON-BOARD AND HOW MUCH FUTURE WE HAVE TOGETHER 12B has left the chat 12B has rejoined the chat 12B: AND I’M KEEPING THE ARTISAN CHEESE BOX 6F: ;_; 12B: STOP CRYING CHAD IT’S PATHETIC

More than one guest has mentioned to me, when I’ve put up an attempt at humor on our FIDS, that “Your company allows you to do that?” I think it’s sometimes forgotten that our leadership actually gives us a lot of leeway and freedom to be creative and funny, and have fun on the job. When we were hired and trained, one of the things that was emphasized was, “bring your personality to work.” Smart, funny, hip signs that attract nationwide attention for Virgin America as a smart, funny, hip company are just one way to advance the brand image.

Learning coordinator Aracely Sandoval celebrates a recent day of zero delays with pizza supplied by leadership.

Swing shift leads Melanie DeMesa and Ed Espiritu both recently departed for crew scheduling at HQ – and are very much missed.