Virgin America Fumes over Mandatory Release of Data

Having lost a battle to keep confidential its financial and operational statistics, Virgin America reported a loss of $175.4 million over the first three quarters of 2008, on revenue of $259.6 million.

Virgin America CEO David Cush remains unperturbed about those figures, saying that such losses were to be expected for a startup airline. He was nevertheless chafing that his airline was required to file mountains of detailed operational information to the government.

DOT reporting rules require airlines to file detailed traffic and operational data about everything from spare parts and maintenance activities to advertising and commission expenses. But the information can give competitors a detailed peek at a carrier’s operations, particularly that of small carriers and new entrants with only a handful of routes.

Virgin had fought since its August 2007 launch to keep such information private while competitors such as Alaska Airlines argued it was unfair they had to file such information while Virgin America did not.

While it’s impossible to suppress the information already released, Virgin America will push the Obama administration to eliminate the reporting requirements, Cush said. “This goes way beyond what you report in a 10-K or an annual report,” he said.