1

NO. 20 DECEMBER 2, 2014 A ROUGHLY BI-MONTHLY GUEST SERVICES NEWSLETTER BY AND FOR VIRGIN AMERICA’S SFO STATION

Flight night

Claudio Brescia dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of

the Caribbean” on Halloween, one of many Virgin teammates who

donned costumes to celebrate the holiday. Claudio also made a

short Halloween video that night. See photos starting on page 4.

Hallway opens

to Terminal 1

BY STEVE FREITAG

The long-awaited hallway connector between Terminal

2 and Terminal 1 opened in early November, allowing the traveling public – and airport employees – easy post-

security access to both terminals and their amenities. The hallway starts right

after security, and inter-

sects the employee TSA line by the ATO that for-

merly deposited guests and employees into the main hallway by Vino Volo. Now travelers who use that TSA

line will exit into the hallway between the terminals. This will prevent unauthorized entry to the ground floor,

which guests formerly could access by using the elevator before exiting the TSA corridor.

The hallway, part of the renovation of the airport that includes the new air traffic control tower, is a longer

walk than expected but affords a great view of the airplane ramp area between terminals 1 and 2,

including many of Virgin’s gates. Just a few yards into the hallway is the airport’s Yoga Room, which formerly

was located closer in Terminal 2. At any given time the room might contain a few people stretching and

relaxing, and some just relaxing to the point of unconsciousness.

The hallway connects to Terminal 1 just before the security exit. Take a left, and just around the corner lies

this section of Terminal 1, home of a few shops and restaurants, including several that have no equivalent in

Terminal 2. It’s hard to imagine many people making the trek over to terminal 1 just for the shopping and dining,

but curiosity – and time to kill – will probably send over quite a few to explore the neighboring terminal.

(continued on page 2)

Virgin Galactic spacecraft crashes in desert

One of the Virgin Galactic experimental spaceship vehicles crashed on Oct. 31, killing the

co-pilot and seriously injuring the pilot. SpaceShipTwo had a catastropic in-flight breakup over the Mojave Desert in Southern

California after a test flight with a new hybrid rocket engine. According to sources, the survival of pilot Peter Siebold was the first time in aviation history that someone has survived

the destruction of a spacecraft during a flight when others on board have died.

After the crash, Virgin founder Richard Branson said in a statement, "Space is hard, but worth it," and also that "We do understand the risks involved and we are not going to push on

blindly—to do so would be an insult to all those affected by this tragedy. We are going to learn from what went wrong, discover how we can improve safety and performance and then move

forward together.”

Wreckage from the crash lies in the desert in

this ABC News photo.

2

Hallway opens to terminal 1

(continued from page 1)

Once inside Terminal 1, the curious traveler will find

an assortment of newsstands (Hudson News), featuring magazines and sundries, and a few

restaurants. The fanciest, Perry’s, features sit-down dining in a style similar to Terminal 2’s own Lark

Creek Grill. Guava & Java is a cross between a smoothie bar (like Jamba Juice) and a coffee joint.

Three Twins offers ice cream, sandwiches and other light fare.

One advantage of the new hallway – if you’re in the habit of walking from Terminal 2 to the Lot B

employee parking lot, the hallway offers a slight shortcut over to Terminal 1, and doesn’t require

exiting a building – an advantage during a rainstorm – until you are almost at the Lot B parking lot.

Keep in mind that when guests ask if the terminals are connected past security, Terminal 2 is connected

only to this closest wing of Terminal 1, not the entirety of Terminal 1 gates.

Above, the hallway beckons adventurous travelers

over to Terminal 1. At left, Guava & Java offers smoothies and other beverages. Below, a great

view of Virgin America aircraft parked at Terminal 2 is available from the hallway between the

terminals.

3

One more teammate started last month

Analise Duenas started as a GST at the airport last month, part of the same class

that included Crystal Obazuaye, Rahel Bahlibi and Jessica Ternullo-Lupis, but information

about her did not appear in the last Virgin Villager.

Annalise said she came to Virgin America because “The culture of the company was the

real driving force of my interest in Virgin America. There's nothing like gaining experience through travel and I'm happy to have been granted the opportunity to contribute in creating

that experience for both myself and others.”

Before coming to Virgin, Analise worked with the Golden State Warriors in the Special

Events and Promotions department. She found her GST training (at LaGuardia) to be amazing, since training was her first time in New York City.

Analise likes to ride motorcycles and also direct and edit music videos. “Anything that gives me an adrenaline rush!” Her favorite travel destinations are Los Angles and now New

York, and she said she was excited to be part of the SFO team.

Analise Duenas

Three Twins in Terminal 1, at top

right, offers ice cream, sandwiches,

drinks and other grab-and-go items.

Perry’s, below, is a sit-down restaurant

with a full bar, similar to Lark Street

Grill or Cat Cora in Terminal 2.

4

Supervisor Brad Fowler is the ferocious

Rabid Badger made flesh, at left, while

Jennifer Chang is sweet as pie as Little Red

Riding Hood. Jennifer also won one of the

prizes for best costume.

Halloween is more than a fun holiday here at the airport – it’s a chance to cut loose and

possibly reveal your secret, hidden self. So, as you look at these photos of the VX crew all

dressed up on October 31, ask yourself … what do their choices of costumes say about

our teammates? Now that’s a scary thought!

5

A trio of devils work at the ticket counter, above left: Fozia

Haroon, Merna Leano and Lana Jefferson. Above, Andre

Lara reveals his nerdier side, and Narea Wilson waves as

a princess (or beauty pageant winner? Either would work).

At left, Zoey Rothenberg attends Hogwarts (as a

Gryffindor, natch) and Frank Sanchez gets ready for

tourist activity.

6

Claudio Brescia and Fran Torres took advantage of their costumes Halloween night by making a short film (as in

very short – under 30 seconds), called “Just Trying to Clock In!” In the film, Fran plays an airport worker who

is rushing to clock in when she runs across a bloodthirsty pirate who, presumably, needs to clock in first. I don’t

know, maybe the bus from Lot B was late or something.

The film can be seen at http://vimeo.com/110943028

Crystal Obazuaye is a Rubik’s Cube, at left,

being solved by baggage handler Myer

Munoz. Above, kittycat Katie Ryan curls up

in a chair in the village and purrs.

7

Aracely Sandoval dressed up as Malificent for a Halloween pageant at Virgin headquarters, above left. Below, Cristin Cornewell, Debbie Cuadra and Erika

Guttierrez dress up for the holiday as well. Above, Rahel Bahlibi is Cruella DeVille, another award-winning costume.

Photos courtesy of Maritza Parra, Steve Freitag,

Luchelli Adorable, Elmer Tosta, Crystal Obazuaye,

Daryl Elsberg, Denise Goode, Ray Wong

and a host of others!

8

Enrique Calvo is some sort of big nerd,

sushi chef Cristina Ramos chops up sushi

piece Evie Ewers, Marla Nelson is Mickey

(or Minnie) Mouse, Gabby Aramburo just

finished a run, Merna Leano is the little

devil on Myer Munoz’s shoulder,

Mckenna Vankoppen is a giraffe, Fran

Torres is an EMT, Jackie White-Leung is a

hot chick, and at the Virgin HQ pageant,

Luis Flores, Jose Morales, Erica Straub

(zombie Spock!), Aracely Sandoval and

Mitch Nabhan. Whew!

9

Virginia Harte and Denise

Goode are Things #1 and 2,

and even found the Cat in the

Hat in Napa Farms! Above

right, Luchelli Adorable is

Wonder Woman and also

wears the outfit. At right,

Jennifer, Evie and Cristina

meet a Teenage Ninja Turtle

and the Flash at the gates.

10

Steve Freitag is Hipster Santa (even his socks had

little beards!) with Ruby Kharbanda as a Minion.

Above right, Erica Straub shows off her animal eye

contact lens. Below, from left, Suzette Rabano is a

cowgirl, Karen Funk is festive, Courtney Whitfield is a

tourist (with Erica), Jackie Castellanos is a nurse and

Loreal Brown is all dressed up, and Sally Boardman

is another little devil.

Happy Halloween, everybody!

11

Think you’ve seen it all in your non-rev travels? Try presidential libraries Here’s another focus for non-rev travel, just when you

think you’ve exhausted the possibilities of all the destinations in the Virgin America network. You’ve tried

the food, the hotels, the night clubs, the sports venues. Maybe you’ve also tried the art museums in

some of the Virgin destinations. But have you visited any of the presidential libraries? Of the 13 Presidential

Libraries, seven are within easy reach of VX destinations.

Although these are named “libraries,” they are much more than repositories for books and scholarly

research. Presidential libraries are usually located on or near a university campus or near the president’s home

town.

The ones I’ve visited were located on university campuses (UMASS, UT, and SMU). The more recent

trend to locate on campuses developed because each library is a center for political research. Each of these

libraries is also a museum with interactive exhibits, special rotating exhibits, public programs and lectures,

as well as other educational events, all of which make these libraries desirable destinations for anyone looking

for a glimpse into the events that shaped our country.

Each library is privately funded, hence the positive spin

on each president’s time in office. The planning starts before the president’s term ends. These libraries have

come to represent the legacy by which a president would like to be remembered. The concept began with

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had accumulated a large volume of documents and papers that he was interested

in passing on to the public. He sought the advice of historians and archivists on how to best conserve and

share this wealth of information. His library in Hyde Park serves as the organizational and economic model for the

operation of presidential libraries. The site and design team are typically chosen by the president, his

(continued on next page)

The LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, above,

and inside the library. Below, the George W.

Bush Presidential Library in Dallas.

12

(continued from previous page)

family, and the non-profit foundation that is providing the funding. Once the building is constructed and operating, the National Archives take over the

daily operation, although private funding from the president’s supporters is needed for the ongoing upkeep.

I was able to visit three of these libraries in August and September -- JFK’s in Boston, LBJ’s in Austin, and G.W. Bush’s in Dallas. After my first visit to the

JFK Library in Boston, I was hooked. Each library highlights the namesake’s presidency from campaign to major events of the term.

In addition to personal insights on the president’s lives, visitors are given chances to participate in interactive decision making. Problems that faced

the president are presented, and then the participants are given information from the president’s key advisers (the actual advice given at the time of the

event). In JFK’s exhibit, the scenario involved the Cuban Missile Crisis, and for LBJ, it was the Vietnam War. In the Bush museum, there were choices of

scenarios that participants voted on dealing with the economy, Iraq, and 9/11.

The George W. Bush museum on the Southern Methodist University

campus in Dallas is the newest of the libraries and consequently has the most up-to-date interactive technology. Participants in the decision making at

the G.W. Bush library sit in a small auditorium. Each seat is equipped with a touch screen on which to vote. After voting on which topic will be decided

upon, advisors present different sides of the issue, after which the participants make a choice. The vote is posted then compared with the

decision made by the president. This provides a golden opportunity to see how much your opinion can be swayed by the contradictory advice from key

policy makers and to see if you chose the same course of action as the president.

If you’re looking for another excuse to visit one of our destinations and soak

up some presidential history along with the local food, drink and nightlife, take a look at the presidential library sites listed and consider putting some

of them on your travel itinerary.

-- Elmer Tosta

VX cities and nearby libraries

AUS -- LBJ

DAL -- George W. Bush

DAL/AUS (College Station) -- George H.W.

Bush (Austin is 115 miles, and Dallas is

180 miles)

LAX (Yorba Linda) -- Richard Nixon

LAX (Simi Valley) -- Ronald Reagan

BOS -- John F. Kennedy

JFK/EWR/LGA (Hyde Park) -- Franklin D.

Roosevelt (Newark or NYC is approximately

100 miles)

National Archives - Presidential Libraries

and Museums

http://www.archives.gov/presidential-

libraries/about/office.html

At left and below,

the JFK Presidential

Library in Boston.

13

Virgin teammates volunteered at St. Anthony's Foundation in San Francisco

this past month, sorting and organizing donated clothing for distribution to

seniors, disabled, homeless, veterans, men, women and children. At left,

Monica Valiente displays a brightly-colored item, and above, Monica,

RaeAnne Dutto and Mckenna Vankoppen give thumbs up to the experience.

A St. Anthony spokesperson wrote that they appreciated the help,

compassion and community spirit of our Virgin America volunteers.

Virgin America celebrated “Cabin Cleaner Appreciation Day” systemwide in October, and at SFO with a rampside

picnic for our aircraft grooming staff. At right, Peishou Liu readies food for the celebration.

14

Enrique Calvo recently (and finally) turned 21, and

celebrated with a party in Las Vegas, attended by, above

(among others), Shardae Clark, Brittany Ashlock, Jerel

Wedge, Merna Leano, Joey Morales and Joey’s sister.

Virgins past and present came out to

celebrate the 30th birthday of recently-

departed Virgin America teammate Kim

Roth, center at left. Among the former

Virgins were Martin Ford and Annette

Margolis, and current Virgins Fran Torres,

Sally Boardman, Patrice Lawrence,

Grenna Tupas, Katie Fung, Ian Lordi,

Carolyn Giusti, and Brittany Ashlock,

among others.

15

The San Francisco

Giants won the

World’s Series for

the third time in five

years! And as the

official airline of the

Giants, Virgin

America celebrated

their victory over the

Kansas City Royals

with T-shirt days and

plenty of fan support!

The morning after the Giants won over the

Royals, the sun dawned bright and orange over

the airport. Showing their support, from left, are

Joanie Raffo; Peishou Liu, Denise Goode and

Miguel Diaz, Lynne Enderson; and Rochelle Stagi

and Grenna Tupas.

16

Showing their

support, from top,

are Celina

Gutierrez-Tufono,

Anu Kishnani and

George Maseda;

Jackie White-

Leung, Denise

Goode and Maggie

Curry; Claudio

Brescia; and Lora

Reichhold.

17

Again showing their support, from top, are Claudia Umili

and Cynthia Portillo; Enrique Calvo; Debbie Cuadra; Grenna

Tupas; Lana Jefferson and Fozia Haroon; and Kat McIntyre

and Denise Goode. At right, a poster showing the SF

station’s support, and a pair of guests (one Giants fan, one

Royals fan) who rolled dice at a gate game during the

series.

18

A holiday tradition! Ugly Sweater Day marks the

beginning of the Christmas / Hanukkah /

Kwanzaa / Winter Solstice / Festivus /

Saturnalia / New Year’s season!

Showing off their Christmas and holiday sweaters are, from top

left, Tupou Unga; Lana Jefferson and Asia Spragan; Scott

Nguyen and Ryan Barrick; and below, Brittany Ashlock, Peishou

Liu, Lora Reichhold, Suzette Rabano, Jose Alarcon, Cristin

Cornewell and Carolyn Giusti.

19

From top left,

wearing holiday

sweaters, are

Peishou Liu, Karen

Funk and Carolyn

Giusti; Jose

Alarcon; Evie

Ewers; Tim Horn;

Peishou Liu and

Jackie Castellanos;

Lora Reichhold

and Carolyn Giusti;

Grenna Tupas;

Cristin Cornewell;

and Suzette

Rabano.

20

Luchelli Adorable is excited to see the three recent World Series

trophies on display recently at Virgin HQ.

Remember, the SFO holiday party is this coming Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Rendezvous

Lounge in San Francsico. Tickets are $15 until 4:30

that afternoon, and $20 afterwards.

Speaking of the holidays, the annual Kids’ Breakfast

with Santa is this Saturday (Dec. 6) at Virgin HQ. There’ll be arts and crafts, face painting, and of course,

photos with Santa Claus.

And speaking of Santa Claus, the holiday cookie exchange cookies are due in the station by no later

than Dec. 13. Eat up!

And speaking of holidays, CEO David Cush reminded us of our importance on Thanksgiving: “We work in a

unique industry in which, when everyone else is traveling to visit friends and family, it is our job to

deliver them to their loved ones safely and with a smile on their face.” Hope those who had to work on

Thanksgiving Day enjoyed the traditional holiday food provided by our leadership.

Brittany Ashlock’s last day is Wednesday, Dec. 17,

and then she starts a new chapter of her life in India.

Good luck and bon voyage to a treasured teammate.

All Hands meeting & Mingle in LA next Tuesday. If you plan to attend, you should have already made plans by now!

Is your name bar fading away? Contact Maritza Parra and she’ll see about getting you a replacement.

Tim Horn recently reminded us that with cold and flu season here, there are some simple steps you can take to avoid becoming sick:

Wipe down your work surfaces. Wash your hands frequently. Get quality rest. Eat a nutritious diet. Cough into your arm, not your hands, and

always cover your mouth. It’s all just common sense, really.

Tim also reminds us that with guests with disabilities, keep in mind that disabilities don’t have to be noticeable. We should never be in the

position of “deciding” if someone is disabled or not, and thus whether they can preboard, for example. Also, guests with disabilities are allowed an additional carry-on bag that contains medication or medical equipment.

Miguel Diaz recently made some excellent points about carry-on bags: “There are times when a guest will present themselves at the

gate with an ‘oversize’ bag. We need to kindly ask the guest if he/she can place it on the baggage sizer and if it doesn't fit, we need to check it. If it is obviously WAAAYYY too big, we can and should charge the guest the $25 bag fee. Remember, the TSA will not monitor

bag sizes.” “If a guest presents themselves at the ticket counter past the baggage cut off time, remember you have 2 options. Either deny the

guest check-in and rebook for the next flight or make the exception and check in the bag. Remember, if making an exception, you should notify the bag room agent via a radio call. Follow the bag to the bag room to confirm they have received it or communicate over

the radio and confirm the bag has been received. Also OPS should always be kept in the loop when checking in late bags. When making exceptions, we need to use common sense. We should not follow bags or escort guests to or through security if it is going to

leave the ticket counter teammates in a bind (Plus it creates a bad precedent for guests who think they can try it next time). If staffing is adequate, give the counter lead a heads up and create WOW for the guest.”

“Lastly, when checking bags at the gates, remember that the guests can walk down bags down to the bottom of the jetbridge if they are about to board the aircraft. If the guest is not boarding and we check the bag for them, then at that point we need to take the bag

for the guest and keep it at the gate podium. The bags should be sent down the slide to the ramp as soon as possible so the ramp team has ample time to load them and prepare themselves for an on time push.”

So many changes recenttly – Dallas Love Field and LaGuardia as destinations, the IPO as we went public … and the suspension of one of

my favorite times of the year, Refresh. I know some didn’t like this yearly disruption of their schedule, but I always enjoyed it, learned a lot about our business, and made wonderful contacts with teammates from other cities and departments. Whatever replaces Refresh, I hope it

accomplishes the same goals.

21

Matthew Leffler has been hired as a new ramp ops supervisor, starting next week. Matthew started with Spirit Airlines and then became a

GST in Fort Lauderdale before moving to the Guest Services Call Center and then to Las Vegas, where he served as a Guest Services Lead. He studied aviation management at Tallahassee Community College and Broward College, and his hobbies include football, karaoke, and

collecting magnets. Welcome to the team, Matthew.

VXellence, as usual, has a bunch of useful information. Here are some of the items that caught my eye as worthy of sharing yet again ...

Ebola is in the news (although not as much as before the November election), and Virgin has the FAA-mandated policy of denying boarding to

guests who appear to have serious health conditions that would make flying unsafe for them or for other guests on board. Call MedLink if you need a physician to interview a guest and make sure they are fit to fly.

E-cigarettes should be stored in carry-on luggage, not checked luggage, due to the risk of fire. Recently, an e-cigarette in a checked bag began heating up during a flight and caused a small fire in a cargo compartment. And the FAA says e-cigarettes may not be smoked on board.

Sending a late runner to the gate? Call the gate and let them know if the guest has a carry-on bag -- it'll make their job easier if they know.

Always ask "What is your final destination?" Just because someone isn't going to one of our hubs (like LAX) doesn't mean they won't be

connecting to another flight.

Virginamerica.com no longer sells cruises -- and I'm surprised to find out that we did. Well, now we don't.

Important info from Elmer regarding pass travel: "Many of you have questioned the limit on passes so here’s a little background to help clarify the issue. For many of our counter agreements, we are the largest carrier (e.g. we have the most team mates at SFO compared to many

of our counter agreement partners.) This means that our demand for passes puts a greater strain on our partners than their demands put on us. Consequently, if we are requesting passes that we have no intention of using (e.g. 3 back up passes to JFK on different carriers within the

same time period when we know we’ll only be using one) we are overloading not only our own ADMIN team but our partners’ teams as well. This type of unbalanced demand can cause our partners to revisit their agreements and increase the limitations or cancel the

agreements altogether. We don’t want this to happen. Remember that instead of requesting numerous backups, you always have the ZED fare option on my ID travel as a backup. While not free, it is certainly cheaper than a PS ticket and is refundable if not used and the admin

teams are not involved. Our station counter agreements are a courtesy within the SFO community only (each station has its own

agreements). We also enjoy a reputation for being an outstanding member of the SFO community and we want to maintain that standing."

GTG ("Good to Go") is gone! Use MST instead, which stands for "Mimimum Scheduled Time." Remember that inbound long hauls get 50

minutes between block-in time and push, medium hauls get 45 and short hauls get 40. Those are for quick turns, obviously.

Remember that Virgin Atlantic Gold and Virgin Australia Gold and Platinum tier members are recognized by Virgin America and are given

some rather nice perks. When flying on VX they must show their tier membership card, and then they can receive priority check-in, priority boarding, priority screening, and priority baggage -- no matter what cabin they are booked in. If they are booked in the Main Cabin, be sure to

affix a priority sticker to their boarding pass so that they can enjoy these benefits.

TechView houses all our company documents like the GSM and the IIPP. Two ways to find it: got to VXconnect and look for the TechView icon

under Policies and Procedures, or go to techview.virginamerica.com and use your VX log-in info.

Load sheets for through flights! What a headache. But it's easy to remember how to do it: you combine the total for both segments of the

flight if the flight is originating here at SFO.

VXBC and VXPC -- you see these on passenger lists but what are they? They just mean the guest has one of the Virgin America credit cards.

We'll use this info later on to give them extra perks, but for now, we can safely ignore them.

Someone traveling with an emotional support animal but the supporting documentaton doesn't look valid? Accept it anyway. Then mark the

PNR, copy the documentation, and send it to cro@virginamerica.com. Don't restrict the guest’s movement or make any comments to the guest that you doubt the validity of the documentation.

Just a reminder: This newsletter is by and for SFO GSTs, but we’d love to have more GST participation, especially with articles. Go

somewhere? You could write an article about it. Or just share your photos and write captions. Have a passion or do something interesting? Write about it. At the very least, you’ll have something to be proud of (or something for your resume) … and you might get a lunch voucher out

of it. And everyone who contributes to this newsletter is entered in a raffle for a prize at the end of the year. Watch for e-mail soon that will list all our year’s contributors, so you can doublecheck and make sure you are acknowledged for your contribution. -- Steve Freitag

This 20th edition of THE VIRGIN VILLAGER was edited by Steve Freitag, with assistance from Elmer Tosta, and Supervisor

Maritza Parra as our head honcho. This is YOUR newsletter, so why not contribute to our next issue, out around the end of the

year? Send your contributions (photos and stories) to stephen.freitag@virginamerica.com and you too can get your name in

print! And maybe even win a lunch voucher, like Yoni Godefa and Claudio Brescia did for our last issue!

And if you contribute to the Virgin Villager, you get entered into our big year-end raffle drawing!

WHICH IS COMING UP SOON!

(If you ever buy state lottery tickets, remember . . . your odds of winning are much better here!)

plus, we don’t cost a dollar