Virgin Atlantic: 30 years of of fun, flying and competition

Then we went into a frenzy of planning, launching an airline in a ridiculously short time. The most important thing was – and is – safety. We ensured we had the best engineering team and most experienced pilots.

But we also wanted new ideas. I made sure that 95pc of our cabin crew hadn’t flown with other airlines and would have a fresh approach. We took our skills from the entertainment industry and translated them to work in airlines. This meant stand-up bars in Upper Class, limo transfers and that inimitable Virgin attitude. We started planning for the future, too, developing seatback video long before the rest of the industry. A constant desire to innovate and do things differently has always been at the heart of Virgin Atlantic.

However, the day before the inaugural flight, we were almost grounded for good. The Civil Aviation Authority agent sat next to me on our inspection flight. As the plane lifted out of Gatwick some birds flew into one of the engines. Jets of flame flew past my seat. I was terrified, and had a horrible sinking feeling that we were grounded before we took off. The agent put his arm around me and said: “Don’t worry Richard, these things happen.” I could have kissed him. We passed all the other tests, managed to get another engine and were ready to fly the next day.

The inaugural flight, 30 years ago was such an incredible party that most people who were on board can’t remember it. After tricking the passengers into thinking Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards and I were piloting the plane in a spoof video, we celebrated all the way to New York. The film shown was Airplane! – thankfully the passengers were having too much fun to notice. When we arrived in the Big Apple, I realised I had forgotten my passport in all of the excitement! Somehow, the mayor let me in.

Back at home, my bank manager was sitting on the doorstep of my houseboat. He threatened to shut Virgin down if we didn’t meet our overdraft payments. We asked every Virgin Records distributor around the world for help and somehow scrambled the money together to keep going. Eventually I had to sell Virgin Records to give Virgin Atlantic the financial clout to compete. While I burst into tears when we sold, in retrospect the timing was perfect as the record industry collapsed.

Our rivals soon began taking us seriously as our incredible staff and strong culture saw our popularity soar. We introduced first class service at business class prices, which was crucial to stopping our competition from undercutting us. My mentor Freddie Laker advised me to put myself front and centre of marketing, creating a public personality.

By 1991 we managed to secure slots at Heathrow and were able to compete toe to toe with British Airways on key routes. We also expanded into exciting markets, with more than a little cheek at times.

In South Africa, every time I met the transport minister he would give us empty promises and I’d leave with no slots. So I announced our new flights at a big press conference, thanking the transport minister before he had actually agreed. He had no choice but to go along with it, and South Africa has gone on to be one of our key markets.

Virgin also caught Lord King’s eye, and British Airways’ Dirty Tricks campaign began. They went to extraordinary lengths to put us out of business – but when we eventually sued and won what at the time were the largest libel damages in history, I gave all the money to staff as a special “BA Christmas Bonus”!

However, by far the biggest issue we have faced is the lack of runway space in the UK. While Virgin Australia and Virgin America have managed to secure lots of slots and grow rapidly in their respective markets, Virgin Atlantic has been stifled at Heathrow. This is dreadful for consumers, and for the UK’s economy and reputation.

Nevertheless, the future is bright. Our new partnership with Delta allows us to challenge BA/AA’s dominance and offer consumers real competition. We are launching new uniforms designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood and are rolling out brand new 787s across the fleet.

We are also ploughing all of the profits we make from Virgin Atlantic – which, admittedly, are not always great – into developing clean fuels with partners like LanzaTech. Alongside using much lighter 787s, and a host of environmentally friendly innovations, we hope to cut aviation emissions massively in the years to come.

I’d never flown with such a fun airline and delightful crew as on Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural flight. Everything felt right. I remember wondering as we took off, would it be possible to have an airline like this in 30 years’ time? Thankfully, the staff still have the same joie de vivre as they did then. A key differentiator against our competitors is our people. Most airlines now have similar seats, food, planes and entertainment – our advantage is the people who are proud to work for us. Since we started Virgin Atlantic, 16 of our 17 original competitors have gone out of business.

Oh, and the woman I was flying to on that very first Virgin flight? I was lucky enough to marry her.

Sir Richard Branson is founder and president of Virgin Group

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