Virgin Atlantic's Dave Hodges talks:
- Premium investments
- Learning from partnerships
- Ensuring corporate seat availability
Dave Hodges, a 13-year veteran of Virgin Atlantic, relocated to Atlanta from London in January to take on his latest role at the carrier: VP of the Americas. Hodges spoke with senior editor Donna M. Airoldi in late March about the premium travel trend, how Virgin's partnerships—especially with Delta Air Lines—are helping it improve performance, and corporate trends. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
BTN: What was it about the VP of the Americas job that appealed to you?
Dave Hodges: It brought together some of the things that I've done. I've worked on the operational side with the customer-facing teams and seen the amazing job that our people do day in, day out. I've worked on the commercial side based in India, based in the U.K., and seen how well we work in those markets, partnering with the agent community, partnering with our partner airlines. And I think coming to the U.S. was just a really exciting opportunity.
BTN: What portion of Virgin Atlantic's overall revenue do the Americas contribute?
Hodges: From a passenger revenue perspective, it brings in close to half of our revenue. It varies obviously from year to year.
BTN: What growth trends has Virgin Atlantic seen in corporate over the past couple of years?
Hodges: We're in a good place in the corporate space. The focus that we have is on three pillars: operational success, the premium experience, and around how we partner with corporates and TMCs and important partners like Delta. When you look across those three elements, we're in a good place, but we've got really exciting plans ahead of us for 2026, and there's a lot more to come on that.
You can see in a trend in some of the growth areas. Some of the segments are doing particularly well, and financial services is one example. But when you look at the premium market, of which corporate is a really important part, that's a market that has continued to grow and be resilient.
BTN: You mentioned Delta, which like you is based in Atlanta. How has that partnership influenced your role?
Hodges: Delta [is an] incredible airline, and it has been a really exciting opportunity to learn from them. At Heathrow I worked really closely with them. We handled Delta above the wing, but also on the operational side, learning from what they do in Atlanta. We also spent time with KLM and what they're doing in Amsterdam. Learning from our partners and becoming even stronger and better was something that really appealed to me.
BTN: Can you give an example of how your Delta partnership helped Virgin Atlantic?
Hodges: There's been instances of disruption and challenges, where we're there to work as a team to be able to support corporates. Also, the work that we're doing across the U.S. and the U.K., working closely with ops and commercial to make sure that we have the full understanding of the corporate customer so that we can serve them in the best way.
The way we work in the U.S. is very closely aligned with Delta. We work hand-in-hand with them in making sure that we're partnering with those corporates and those TMCs.
BTN: Delta has an ownership stake and tight partnership with private aviation provider Wheels Up. Does that partnership come into play for Virgin Atlantic?
Hodges: It doesn't at this point.
BTN: How are you making the Americas role your own?
Hodges: My strategy in the role for corporates is aligned to what the business is doing and focused on the Americas specifically. But firstly, it's about operational success, because we know how important that is to corporates. We've done a lot of work on improving our operational performance, and there's more that we're going to do. We've become the No. 1 carrier across the transatlantic [for] on-time departure. We know how important that is.
We launched on [March 19] in Atlanta international remote baggage screening, which means that travelers who are flying through Atlanta won't have to go and collect their bag. It'll be screened before by the authorities. They can go straight to their destination across America without having to collect their bag. That's just in Atlanta, and we're looking to do more of that, but that's another example, which we know is important for connecting customers and for corporates.
BTN: What other new offerings does Virgin Atlantic have?
Hodges: We know that the premium experience is important. Starlink, which we are launching in the spring and will quickly move through our fleet, is going to bring the fastest Wi-Fi I think available on the planet to our planes. That's going to be a real game-changer. We know how important that is from the surveys we do of our corporate market.
We just launched our new app as well, and we've seen really great numbers in that. It comes with our new kind of travel concierge, which is a travel companion. ... We've also invested a lot in our Clubhouse [lounges] over the last couple of months.
BTN: Tell me more about your Clubhouse investments.
Hodges: The Clubhouse investment is very wellness-focused. That's something that we've also launched in the U.S. market [in Los Angeles] last year. That's been incredibly well-received when we look at the NPS scores. But we're also going to be investing in JFK later this year. … [For Heathrow], we've partnered with Secret Spa, so there's a spa in the Clubhouse until the end of April. We've got [three self-guided] Somadomes [meditations] there until the end of May, which are a real opportunity for people to relax. But we've also [invested] in the cinema area, the new work pods. We've got a Royal Box VIP experience.
[Note: After this interview, Virgin Atlantic announced the revamped Heathrow Clubhouse had opened and noted that the Royal Box is an invitation-only space that offers a private retreat separate from the rest of the lounge, and that there are two private work-pod studios—The Townhouse and The Manor.]
BTN: You're investing in new aircraft as well.
Hodges: It's not U.S.-specific, but it's a really important point for corporates because from the end of the year we're going to start to have our [Airbus] neos come in with a higher business-class configuration. So, more seats across the transatlantic, and that is obviously something that we'll work closely with corporates on. We know how important it is that in that late-booking market, we give them the availability.
BTN: Can you go into more detail on how you ensure corporate seat availability?
Hodges: The availability side is working hard with our revenue management teams to keep that inventory available for corporates because we know how important it is. What you are seeing at the moment is real growth in the premium segment. That growth is leading to … more demand for those seats. That's naturally why we're investing in higher business-class premium configurations. When our 10 [Airbus A330neos] come in, they'll have 48 seats in business and 56 in premium, and we're also retrofitting our [Boeing] 787s as well from 2028, which will also have a much higher business-class configuration.
That's a way to create more availability, but that takes a little bit of time. Whilst we're waiting for those to come online as well, we work really hard to try and keep that availability through the revenue management teams available for corporates, which is always a challenge when there's high demand, which is what we're seeing.
BTN: What are corporate travel managers asking for these days?
Hodges: Operational reliability, and knowing that you're there for them when there are challenges. Every airline has disruption from time to time, but how you treat people in those moments and look after them is genuinely a differentiator. I think they are more and more focused, as every airline looks to invest in premium, at who can offer those best experiences. And then it is about that partnership piece.
BTN: What about new services or destinations?
Hodges: We are expanding in some of our destinations. We [are about to start] Seoul. But for us in the Americas, we've got really good coverage across the West Coast with our [joint venture] with Delta and Air France-KLM. We cover over 200-plus destinations. The power of the partnership with Delta and Air France-KLM gives us that scope.
Another big thing for us is India. We've worked really hard on those connections from the U.S. to India because we know there's a lot of corporate traffic. … We launched a specific kind of connections team in London that makes sure those connections always work really well.
BTN: How is the current geopolitical situation affecting corporate sales from the U.S.?
Hodges: We're seeing resilience in corporate travel and premium travel from what's going on at the moment. And I think the willingness to want to still go to the U.K. is very much still there. When there are challenges, and those challenges exist with the fuel price as well, people really look at who is [offering] value for money from a premium perspective. And I think that's where the airlines like Virgin and Delta are really well placed in this market to be successful.