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VOL. 1, NO. 3 DECEMBER 1, 2012 A BI-MONTHLY GUEST SERVICES NEWSLETTER BY AND FOR VIRGIN AMERICA’S SFO STATION

Virgin America! Come on down! On Nov. 7 twenty-one Virgin America employees (including many GSTs) trekked to Los Angeles to appear on the long-running game show The Price is Right, hosted by Drew Carey. After a long wait outside, the group was let in for the taping, and sat behind contestants’ row. GST Annette Margolis, below, who organized the outing, was called up to bid on a karaoke machine, but didn’t get on stage. The show is scheduled to air on CBS on Jan. 17.

GST STYLE Is that Korean

rapper PSY performing his hit “Gangnam Style”? Nope, it’s GST Willie

Suenaga on Halloween!

More holiday photos of Virgins in

costume on page 4.

Traditions are cherished throughout holiday season During the end-of-year holiday season, whether the holiday is Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Boxing Day (have we covered everybody?), it’s the continuing things we do that make our holidays part of a yearly event. We asked our co-workers at SFO what were some of their holiday traditions.

We take a family field trip to pick out a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. My dad trims the tree and my mom and all the girls do the decorating. We set up tinsel trees in our rooms and have our own set of ornaments that our mom has been collecting for us over the years. We also have an advent calendar instead of stockings. My three sisters, mom and I buy each other gifts for the advent and we don't open the gifts until Christmas Eve. It's Filipino tradition to have a celebration on Christmas Eve and open presents at the strike on midnight. All our family gathers together at the designated party house, have a big feast, watch our favorite Christmas films and open presents. – Naomi Castro

(continued on page 2)

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Have a happy holiday season with SFO GSTs’ yearly traditions (continued from page 1)

We attend the “dawn mass” at 4 a.m. starting Dec. 16 at a nearby parish church daily all the way leading up to Dec 24. After the mass is over, outside the church awaits you, every morning, vendors selling fresh hot cocoa, with different pastries made under hot coals. Some days, mass isn't over yet, but your mind is racing because of the wonderful treats that await you outside. So do I really understand the sermon, or do I try to stay awake – after all, there's a reward for getting up so early. But that's not all there is to it. The bond that's formed with my grandparents who raised me, my brother, my cousins – every "SIMBANG GABI" (dawn mass) is priceless. – Jocelyn Mallare

Traditions for me would be to spend a mellow day with all my family in the mountains of Colorado and having a big feast. Secondary tradition would be to spend a mellow day with close friends in Palm Springs or another warm locale when the family get together is impossible due to schedules etc. Very simple but always a treat. – Peter Jeute

My mom and I would cut up our calendar to throw as confetti on New Year's Eve. It was really fun to look at all the things we had accomplished and the trips that were taken over the year that had been marked on the calendar. –Annette Margolis

In my family, we put up two Christmas stockings per person. One stocking is the kind that was hand-made by Grandma decades ago and is full of warm memories and family history -- but is too fragile to hold any holiday loot! It’s just for show! So we put up a secondary "workhorse" stocking to hold a few small presents and a chocolate bar or two, and it doesn't matter if this one gets frayed or ripped! – Steve Freitag

All the men in our family cook for Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is at our house every year and my hubby (the master chef) does all the cooking. He is known for his tandoori turkey, spicy yams, butternut squash soup and mashed potatoes, among other delicious dishes. He starts shopping on Tuesday and the night before he marinates the turkey while my brothers-in-law (the sous chefs) assist with chopping and cleaning up. The women have the day off from cooking but clean up after the Thanksgiving meal. Everyone comes over, even the extended family and the neighbors. We eat at about 1 p.m. and usually spend the entire day together. So Thanksgiving to the Kishnanis means lots and lots of good food, drinks, and lots of fun memories! – Anupama Kishnani

Every year since 1983, my dad sets up the video camera on the tripod to face the hallway where all the bedrooms are. He plays Bing Crosby's Christmas album on vinyl and we all walk out of our rooms down the hallway toward the camera as if we've just woken up and seen the tree for the first time! Over the years my brothers and I have all moved out, so we still pretend we had slept there Christmas Eve and sometimes wear our pajamas for fun! Eventually, these short clips will be a long montage of my family walking down the same hallway over and over as we age. – Katie Fung

The Olney family, including Jessica, right, prepare to cut down a Christmas tree. Thanksgiving is always held at my parents’ house, the one I grew up in. We have two turkeys and generally about 35-40 people. It’s a competition of turkeys with two sides of the family making one. There’s a traditional turkey and a barbecued one. At the end of feasting when it’s time for dessert I help the younger kids decorate gingerbread houses that they take home at the end of the night. Before everyone goes home we do a name exchange for a secret Santa on Christmas Eve. Generally the day after Thanksgiving, my parents, aunts and uncles plus cousins go to chop down a Christmas tree for each family. We drive down toward the Santa Cruz hills where you can chop your own tree. Some years have been bad weather, where it’s pouring rain, and I refuse to get out of the car to search for the perfect tree and we picked one out from the van. There’s always Boy Scouts selling cider and hot chocolate for the cold mornings. Last year was the first year I got my own tree with my boyfriend. After the tree choosing we head to my aunt and uncles’ place for soup and sandwiches and conversation. Christmas Eve we gather with the whole extended family again and it ends up being about 40 people. Everyone brings their present for the secret Santa and puts it under the tree. The kids who are under high school age get extra gifts from different families. We always have a pot of split pea soup and soda crackers for everyone to snack on. That tradition was started when I was younger by my great aunt. Then there's a “make your own sandwich bar” after soup. In the middle of opening presents Santa rings bells at the front door. The older kids know it’s going to happen and run to open the door to catch Santa but never seem to catch him, but luckily Santa drops his bag of gifts at the front door. The little kids get a special present from Santa in the bag.

Christmas day starts earlyish with just my parents and brother. We have mimosas and an egg casserole dish to start the morning. First is stockings with the parents, and then we have the next door neighbors come over that babysat my brother and I when we were little, and we swap presents with them and chat for a while. We separate to prepare for people to come over. Once again the family heads to my parents’ house, but not as many people, just the immediate family, so about 18. We have a very relaxing day and watch movies or television and chat. Then have an early dinner and lots of wine to celebrate the end of the holidays. – Jessica Olney

(continued on page 10)

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As part of its commitment to green issues and a cleaner environment, occasionally Virgin

participates in events such as a coastal cleanup in late September at Angel Island State

Park in San Francisco Bay. Joining about two dozen folks from HQ were SFO station

teammates, at top, Steve Freitag, Molly Lynn and Maggie Siegford, showing off their work

gloves. At right, Maggie digs out a culvert and Molly hauls away leaves and debris.

Adrian Austria (former lead, now in-flight)

and GST Kayla Smith cut a cake at a baby

shower in early October, as guests gather

at the shower for refreshments and

socializing, including several Virgin co-

workers. Adrian and Kayla’s son, Roman

Zavier Austria, at right, was born Nov. 20.

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Cuban revolutionary Andre Lara hangs

out with athletic Emily Tang, at top, as

Totoro Emi Aiko and A’s player Jessica

Olney work the gates. Below, Peter

Jeute and “Marilyn” Courtney Whitfield

show off their heels, station director

Daryl Ellsberg and Denise Goode wear

matching Virgin Halloween shirts, Pink

Lady Summer Martin looks good in her

satin jacket, French maid Lynn “JoJo”

Mallare cleans up, and cowgirl Kim Roth

shows off her boots.

Batgirl Aracely

Sandoval busts

rasta David

Brown, above, at

check-in. At left,

hippy Steve

Freitag, “the

blues” Tressa

Mallamo and Top

Gun Jason Fiske

chill out in the

supes’ office.

Below, police

officer Claudio

Brescia attempts

to arrest perp

Martin Ford.

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You're working the "Express Bag Check Line" at check-in.

About a dozen people are lined up in the full service line, and

the lobby host is refilling boarding passes at a far kiosk.

You've just finished taking baggage from the last person in

the bag drop line, when someone walks right up through the

empty express bag line to your counter. They haven't checked

in yet and need to pay for two bags. You gently suggest that

they should check in at the kiosk first or use the full service

line, and they belligerently reply, "I'm already here! Why don't

you do your job and check me in!" What do you do?

Several GSTs were picked at random and asked what they would do with this

scenario. Here are their responses … one of them also this time in limerick

form!

I would explain to the guest that he/she was in the wrong line and that the express bag check line was specifically for those who have already paid for their bags and have a boarding pass printed. I would also explain to the guest that he could go and check in at the kiosk and also pay for bags and return to the express bag check line or he could get in line at full-service check-in. I would also explain that yes, it's my job to help each guest, but I also have to be fair and there are others that have been patiently waiting in line to be helped.

I would never send someone back in line unless there was a huge line that guest have been standing in. I would kindly advise them that in the future the way Virgin has their system for checking in, explaining briefly the expedited service we offer for online check-in.

I would kindly explain to them the purpose of express bag check and explain how accepting full service guests would defeat the purpose of the service we aim to provide at express baggage. I would proceed to check them in and give them a friendly reminder that I'm doing it just this once.

(continued on next page)

Supervisor Rod Calderon, left, participates in a FOD

Walk in early October, in which participants picked

up Foreign Object Debris off runways and adjacent

areas. FOD, which includes aircraft and luggage

material as well as broken pavement and

construction debris, costs airlines $13 billion per year

in costs, in addition to the possibility of injuries and

deaths … so if you see it, pick it up!

WOW! CHEAP EATS AND DRINKS! – In

early October a group of GSTS toured the Anchor Steam Brewery in San Francisco, as part of a “WOW Patrol” activity. Above, Robert Corcuchia, Sara Rodriguez and Mark Freitas marvel at how cheap the beer and sandwiches are on the tour … no, wait, it’s just a vintage sign. Dang.

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What would I do? Well, first of all, in the "perfect world", I would apologize to the guest for having to turn them away. I would explain to them our concept of the lobby and that I would be happy to assist them if there were no other people waiting in line. I would then point out to the guest the dozen other people who are patiently waiting for their turn at the full service line and express that they probably would not appreciate someone cutting in front of them. But eh... how often does the guest usually listen to us in real life anyway? I'm pretty sure we'll just end up calling in a lead or a sup to diffuse this situation.

Stare at them like they are an alien abducting me.

If someone cuts rudely in line, you Remember to grow a firm spine, you And explain calmly, instead, "Many other guests are ahead, First I have to serve all those people behind you."

As tempting as it is to help someone who has barged up the wrong line, ahead of all the guests who have been waiting patiently in the correct line, just to get them out of your hair, there are three principles at stake here which would make me want to send them to the full-service line:

1. They haven't been waiting in line, they just barged up. So sending them to the full-service line doesn't mean they're waiting in line twice, which is a no-no. They'll just be waiting in the correct line once.

2. You're rewarding bad behavior if you help them over the guests who have been waiting patiently. We should reward good behavior, and not punish those guests who have been playing by our rules.

3. All it takes is one guest tweeting "Checking in at @virginamerica? Ignore their signs and just go up the shortest line! They'll help you out!" Our lobby, and our whole check-in process, would probably take months to recover from that, if ever.

Virgin America GST Grenna Tupas married Mike Hibaler in Iloilo, a

city in the Philippines, on Oct. 27. Childhood friends, Grenna and

Mike dated in the early 1990s, then broke up and went their

separate ways, only to later find each other via a social networking

web site. “He asked me out again because we never broke up,”

Grenna said.

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Periodically, our leadership at SFO receives statistics that measure our station performance. You know what they say about a winning team... We have to know what the goal is if we are going to be successful! Some crunching of these recent statistics shows where we are improving, where we are holding steady, and where we might try to incorporate some additional best practices. For this most recent group of statistics, we can see that:

The missed baggage ratio (MBR) has room for improvement. Although September's numbers were good, the three months before that were higher than our goal, and our station isn't doing as well as Virgin as a whole, primarily resulting from Interline failures.

Our D0 (on-time performance) is almost on track. Our goal is 70%, and we're at 68% for the year so far. September (close to 73%) was much better than August's 64%, so let's hope September is the start of a trend.

Our D5 (on-time within five minutes) goal is 80%, and September was much better -- 83% -- than the summer months, which were all below 80%. For the year to date we're meeting our goal, but just barely.

We want to have a combined web and kiosk check-in percentage of 75%. For September we hit that on the money, as we did in June and August. (July was odd in that our numbers went down significantly, to about 71%.)

Our guest's gave us 11 compliments in September, to 35 complaints. This is a typical ratio, except for this past May, when the number of compliments equaled the number of complaints. The industry ratio of complaints to compliments is 3:1 but not ever wanting to be typical our goal is 2.5:1.

Ask our supervisors if you want to know more about these and other numbers -- and where we can work for improvement! If you would like to see weekly updates on where we stand, they will be posted on the performance board in Necker Island.

-- Rod Calderon

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Along with the

World Series

sweep by our

own San

Francisco Giants

came another

joyous occasion:

T-shirt time!

Wearing their T-

shirts with pride

during the

playoffs and

series are,

clockwise from

top left, Julie

Gaines, Edward

Espiritu and

David Brown,

Annette

Margolis and

Carolyn Giusti,

Nikki Zavoral-

Fitzpatrick, and

Lauren

Tameguia.

YOU ARE SO HOT. I can't believe how

hot you are. You are the hottest Virgin here ... ever! And I'm not surprised, the way you always wear both your sweater and your jacket together. Me, I'd be broiling! Do yourself a favor and leave the jacket in your locker.

HOW ABOUT WE GO CLUBBING?

My grandfather wants me to check out the Kiwanis, Rotary and Elks clubs. Frankly, I don't see myself joining any of them, but I could use some company. We'll grab Taco Bell after.

LET'S GET IT ON! That's the

name of a classic soul song by Al Green. If you haven't heard it, you should -- he's an excellent singer, and it'll be a nice change of pace from all that Katy Perry you listen to.

YOU GOT ME GOING, GIRL.

Yes, I'm heading to Dallas, so here's my standby boarding pass. Please give me a good seat, preferably a window. I'll be returning on Friday, so if you're working gates that day, maybe you'll get me coming back, too!

YOU’VE GOT JUNK IN THE

TRUNK! And frankly, it's probably

affecting your gas mileage. Stop off at the SFO transfer station and get rid of it! They'll only charge you a small fee, and you won't have to fill up your gas tank as often. Plus, you’ll be able to put your groceries in the trunk and not have them sliding around on your back seat.

I WANT YOUr hours. You don't want to

work both Friday and Saturday nights, right? Give me those hours!

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Il Corvo is one Seattle restaurant to crow about

Review by Elmer Tosta

So I’m finally getting around to sharing my all-time favorite lunch find from the numerous one- and two-day non-rev trips I’ve made to Seattle. That find, which I like well enough to make a special trip for, is Il Corvo (Italian for “the Crow”). Situated on a stairway adjacent to the Pike Place Public Market, Il Corvo shares its space with the geleteria, Procopio. Each business day, Il Corvo offers its patrons a choice of 3 pastas, side plates of bread and olives, and some type of cured meat as an antipasto (each item is offered ala carte).. Diners are also offered a choice between red or white wine. Choices vary daily. Each pasta is handmade and served in an appropriate size (e.g. not too large of serving) but large enough to make a satisfying lunch. Each item is conveniently priced so that the total with tax comes out to an even amount (pasta is $8.18 plus tax, which comes to an even $9.00). Antipasti are priced somewhere in between. Because of the specialized menu, the ordering format is much like a cafe. Orders are taken at the cash register, payment collected, beverages served, and the guests find their own seats in the 28-seat room. Visit the website (ilcorvopasta.com), for an idea of the wide variety of pasta served. Both the website and the blog offer detailed descriptions of what might be available on any day. Because preparation is done the day of serving, there are always surprises, and all of them are good.

Chef/Owner Michael Easton has been associated with some of Seattle’s best restaurants. He decided to open a restaurant that lets him express his passion for pasta with fresh ingredients. His knowledge and skill for making exquisite noodles combined with his sense for combining appropriate shapes with appropriate sauces turned his restaurant into a mecca for pasta lovers. (Yes, there is a reason for the saying on the chalkboard in the dining room, “Pasta is architecture for the mouth”). Some pasta shapes are meant to hold sauces (penne or any rolled or hollow shape) while others are simply meant to wear a light coating of sauce or be served in a broth (think about round or flat noodles.) Each shape is a function of its process, be it rolled, extruded, or hand cut. Easton also has a passion for old and functional kitchen hardware. Many of the devices he uses to create the shapes and styles of the pasta are quite old and haven’t been improved upon. After over a dozen lunches at this place, some with family and friends, others dining alone, I have to say this is my favorite out of town dining spot on all levels, quality, service, and value. As this article is going to press, word is out that this place will be opening in Pioneer Square. Going to Seattle just for lunch? Take the first flight to SEA from SFO, jump on the light rail from the airport and exit at the University or Westgate stations. Walk over to Pike Place Public Market and take the Hill Climb stairs down from the market. Their new location in Pioneer Square is also convenient to transit as there is a Pioneer Square stop on the light rail route. After lunch, find a caffe for pastry or gelato, and then back to the transit station and SEATAC, and hop on the mid or late afternoon flight back to SFO. Buon apetito!

KEEPING IT CLEAN Rod Calderon, Daryl Elsberg, Matthew Streem and Tim Horn tour LSG, our aircraft caterers, on a recent inspection trip. The group was served lunch, and they inspected the kitchen, refrigerators, safety department, dispatch, food storage and seal room. They also watched how precise LSG is with keeping every room at a certain temperature depending on what kind of food is being prepared. This was the first time that SFO leadership has toured LSG, a task that normally is taken care of by Virgins at HQ.

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Have a happy holiday season with SFO GSTs’ yearly traditions (continued from page 2)

My traditions are having an Advent calendar through the month of December. It's normally handmade and decorated. There are 24 little presents or box with little fun things inside, like candy or mini toys or small things. Starting December 1st every morning we open one the present with the date on it until Xmas, and on the 24th there’s a big one! In Germany we celebrate Xmas on Xmas Eve so we only have 24 but in America some have 25 little presents. – Summer Martin

My mom always makes two or three cheesecakes from scratch! Sometimes if we are lucky she will make a fourth one because it’s easier to double the recipe twice. I have recently learned to make the delicious desserts and now I have taken over the responsibility of making them. Somehow they never taste quite as good as hers! Practice makes perfect. – Lora Reichhold

A Lego set in every stocking. – Bradford Fowler

On Christmas Eve we always watch (or at least have on in the background of opening presents) A Charlie Brown Christmas or Miracle on 34th Street (the old one). It just doesn't seem right without these 2 movies. – Courtney Whitfield

My mother began taking me to Half Moon Bay to cut down a Holiday Tree when I was eight years old. I've kept the tradition alive since then and have hopefully instilled it within my step-daughters to enjoy and pass along. – Tim Horn

My partner and I try as many different holiday beers we can find and have narrowed down one special favorite each year. The past 3 years Anchor Steam's Christmas Ale has won . . . it somehow tastes like Christmas! We make sure to snuggle up on the couch and watch Love Actually. It never fails to warm our hearts and pull some tears! Yes...he even sheds some tears :) Leftover tofurkey (both Thanksgiving and Christmas) always get a special pot pie makeover and keep the holiday going throughout the week. Baking and cooking are big parts of our holiday tradition. We love nothing more than a toasty warm house filled with good food, family and friends. – Molly Lynn

The Christmas tree is

lit in the Virgin

Village at SFO.

This third edition of THE VIRGIN VILLAGER was edited by Steve Freitag, with our usual editorial board of Suzette Rabano, Sue Wilk and Ian McFaul, and contributions by Elmer Tosta, Rod Calderon and a host of others. Supervisor Leilani Oster is our head honcho and overseer. Join this exclusive club and contribute to our next issue, which should be out around February 1. Send your contributions (photos and stories) to villager@virginamerica.com and you too can get your name in print!