• by Karl Greenberg , March 4, 2008

There were several themes at play at Monday's press conference for Virgin Atlantic Airways and General Motors. The event took place, fittingly, in the Frank Gehry-designed Interactive Corp. headquarters on New York's West Side. On one level, the conference was about Virgin's efforts at developing more and more environmentally friendly aircraft, and GM's efforts to boost its own green-vehicle program through association.

General Motors had a few of its hydrogen fuel-cell Chevrolet Equinox cars parked beside the frosted, scalloped glass walls of the IAC building. Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson said the cars will now be part of Virgin's efforts to eliminate its carbon footprint: hydrogen Equinoxes will serve as limousines to ferry Virgin's first class passengers to and from the airport in Los Angeles and then New York later this year.

Branson talked about the company's $2.5 billion deal with Rolls Royce, which will supply its Trent 1000 engine as powerplant for the fleet of Boeing Dreamliner planes Virgin is buying.

The press scrum was also an opportunity for Virgin to air its dissatisfaction with the first phase of the EU-U.S. Open Skies agreement meant to deregulate air service between the U.S. and Europe, giving carriers like Virgin Atlantic more ports of entry in the U.S. from which it can leap-frog to other destinations in the Americas and Asia.

"Here is a golden opportunity to reshape aviation," said Lyell Strambi, COO, Virgin Atlantic. He said that in the trans-Atlantic market, constituting 60% of international air travel, there has been a 40% increase in business-class travel in the past decade. "There is more competition entering the market. Unfortunately, Heathrow is very constrained, and any new entrants will find it hard to get a toehold."

He said Virgin Airways has invested heavily around Open Skies and the prospect that the deal, between EU and U.S., would open Virgin's opportunities in the U.S. for the business travel sector. "We have invested heavily in ground services: in facilities and activities on the ground to make it easier for customers to get to their gates quickly. We anticipated the beginning of Open Skies with new services to Chicago and New York and upgrades to our Terminal Three base in Heathrow." He said at Heathrow there are dedicated "queue-free" lines for business travelers."

For General Motors, the link with Virgin is part of its Project Driveway program, launched last year to put 100 of the hydrogen Equinoxes in the hands of consumers in L.A. and New York, and to Disney's fleet.

Cheryl Catton, Chevrolet's director of marketing, said the agreement with Virgin will include promotional opportunities. "The agreement gives us access to some of their assets and them to ours," she says. "It will probably involve digital properties. We have asked for co-promotional activities -- they are going to make our technology known to their frequent-flyer travelers, for instance." She said Virgin will tout Chevrolet's "Fuel Friendly to Fuel Free" mantra to Virgin customers via digital and direct mail.

She says the Project Driveway program will, over the next 30 months, involve getting the vehicles to influencers and celebrities, and that outreach efforts will include PR, public policy efforts.