Virgin America And San Francisco Giants Score Big With Extended Partnership Agreement

The Airline Celebrates Extended Partnership and the San Francisco Giants' 2014 World Championship by Sending the World Championship Trophy in Style to New York

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Virgin America

Jan 21, 2015, 10:54 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the San Francisco Giants and Virgin America announced a multi-year partnership extension, which maintains the Bay Area-based airline's position as the "Official Airline of the San Francisco Giants" through the end of 2018. This announcement came during an "orange carpet" send-off for the 2014 World Championship Trophy as it heads to New York City for the East Coast leg of a three-month World Championship Trophy Tour presented by Bank of America.

Virgin America And San Francisco Giants Score Big With Extended Partnership Agreement

The trophy will fly in style, riding in Virgin America's exclusive eight-seat First Class cabin from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) onboard the Virgin America Airbus A320 aircraft "Fly Bye Baby," named in honor of the hometown team. Onboard the flight, Giants President and CEO Larry Baer will invite fellow Virgin America guests to grab photos with the trophy and will host a live Twitter chat at 35,000 feet using the airline's inflight WiFi. Guests and fans alike are encouraged to follow along and submit questions using the hashtags #sfgtrophy and #flytogether.

The extended partnership includes unique co-branding elements at AT&T Park, including the "Virgin America Loft," a premium customized suite located in right field above McCovey Cove, and the "Virgin America Club Level" that features the airline's signature cabin mood-lighting. In 2012, the airline first unveiled its Giants themed "Fly Bye Baby" aircraft that was updated in 2014 with a crowdsourced #FlyTogether design populated with the photos of hundreds of Giants fan who submitted photos on Instagram and Twitter. Today at SFO, Virgin America unveiled the aircraft's newest design – the 2014 World Championship mark – in celebration of the San Francisco Giant's latest World Series Victory.

"As the only airline headquartered in the Bay Area we, alongside all our flyers, had the opportunity to cheer on our hometown champions as they earned their third World Championship in five years," said Luanne Calvert, Chief Marketing Officer of Virgin America. "We are thrilled to extend this partnership and look forward to many more years of success for the team. We can't think of a better way to celebrate than kicking-off the East Coast leg of the Trophy Tour in style onboard Virgin America."

Once in the Big Apple, the trophy will be available to Giants fans that have followed the team for generations – a history that dates back to when the team was based in New York before moving to San Francisco in 1958. A public viewing of the trophy will be held on Saturday, January 24 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Finnerty's Bar in Manhattan.

"We are delighted to extend this dynamic and creative partnership with Virgin America – a partnership that we've cultivated since 2008," said Larry Baer, President and CEO of the San Francisco Giants. "We love the synergies that exist between our two organizations and are excited to bring the look and feel of Virgin America's unique planes to AT&T Park and to create a Giants presence onboard the airline's flights so fans never have to miss a minute of the game thanks to live television at 35,000 feet."

In addition to a Main Cabin that offers custom-designed leather seating with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, the airline's First Class cabin offers plush white leather seating with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline and lumbar massagers. The carrier's Main Cabin Select service offers 38-inches of pitch, free food and cocktails, an all-access pass to media content, dedicated overhead bins and priority check-in/boarding. The Red® in-flight entertainment platform offers guests their own seatback touch-screen TV, with more than 20 films, live TV, Google Maps, videogames, a 3,000 song library and an on-demand menu, which allows flyers to order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight. Virgin America's airport lounge – The Loft – is located at LAX and its Elevate frequent flyer program offers no black-outs or restrictions on rewards seats with three levels of status including Elevate Gold and Elevate Silver.

The airline continues to expand its network across the country with flights to Austin, Boston, Cancun, Chicago, Dallas Love Field, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Newark, New York (JFK and LGA), Orlando, Palm Springs (seasonal), Portland, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. (IAD and DCA).

Photos of the press conference, Virgin America 'Fly Bye Baby' plane and the trophy onboard the flight to New York are available here.

Video of Virgin America guests celebrating the San Francisco Giants World Series victory from 35,000 feet in 2014 can be found here.

Photos of Virgin America's unique aircraft and broadcast quality b-roll are available here.

About Virgin America: Known for its mood-lit cabins, three beautifully designed classes of service and innovative fleetwide amenities — like touch-screen personal entertainment, WiFi and power outlets at every seat, Virgin America has built a loyal following of flyers and earned a host of awards since launching in 2007 — including being named both the "Best U.S. Airline" in Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards and "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards for the past seven consecutive years. For more: www.virginamerica.com

About the San Francisco Giants: One of the oldest franchises in Major League Baseball, the 133-year old franchise moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958. After playing a total of 42 years in Seals Stadium and Candlestick Park, the team moved to the privately constructed AT&T Park in 2000. The organization is widely recognized for its innovative business practices and baseball excellence. In 2010, the franchise was named the Sports Organization of the Year by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal and in 2012 was named Organization of the Year by Baseball America. Since opening its gates, AT&T Park has become internationally-renowned as a premier venue in the world of both sports and entertainment. On the diamond, more than 46 million spectators have witnessed a number of magical moments, including three World Series Championships in the past five years (2010, 2012 & 2014) and five playoff appearances. On June 13, 2012, the first-ever Perfect Game was thrown by Giants ace Matt Cain. In 2008, the Giants celebrated the team's 50^th year in San Francisco and it was the center of the baseball universe when it hosted the 78^th Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 10, 2007. AT&T Park has also played host to some of music's biggest acts, including the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band and Green Day. Off the field, the Giants have one of the premier community outreach programs in professional sports, becoming the first team to implement a 100 percent participation program, involving every player, coach and uniformed staff member in at least one community project throughout the season. Through its community outreach programs, the Giants and the Giants Community Fund work with corporate and non-profit partners to raise awareness, educate and generate interest in a variety of issues important to both their fans and community including education/literacy, violence prevention, health and youth recreation and fitness.