The Virgin America brand will disappear overnight

Come Wednesday morning, customers arriving at 29 airports in the US and Mexico will find something missing: all check-in counters, kiosks, signs and gate areas branded as Virgin America. These 29 airports are where Virgin America and Alaska Airlines are both still operating flights, but on Tuesday night, two years after Alaska Airlines acquired Virgin America for $2.6b, the final Virgin-branded revenue flights will be flown. The final flights will be Virgin America Flight 1182, which is scheduled to depart San Francisco at 9:30 p.m. and, two minutes later, Virgin America Flight 1948, which is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles at 9:32 p.m. “We’re planning to delight our guests flying on these last two flights with a few surprises,” Alaska Airlines said. Aviation geeks and frequent fliers with both Virgin America and Alaska Airlines who have booked seats on the Virgin America flight between SFO and LAX have planned a few celebratory events and surprises of their own. “We’ll be having a get-together in the gate area before the flight,” said Nate Vallier, a frequent flier who owns an airline IT company. “We’ll have posters, memorabilia and other swag to hand out and, after the flight, we’ll be gathering in the Alaska Airlines lounge in LAX to toast to the sunset of the Virgin America brand.” <br/>