Virgin making inroads

That's Virgin America, the start-up airline launched by British billionaire Richard Branson and offering service from L.A. to NY and SF. Price is a big part of the attraction: The cheapest round-trip fares between L.A. and NY are running below $300, which is roughly $100 lower than what had been the standard price. First-class fares are also cheaper - $699 one-way. All passengers get a seat-back entertainment system with movies, television, games and 3,000 songs. Sounds great, right? Well, it's not all great - starting with an unappetizing cheese-and-crackers snack for $7. From the WSJ:

One area JetBlue believes it still has the upper hand is legroom -- vital on long flights. JetBlue's all-coach cabin has half of its seats at 34 inches of "seat pitch" -- the space from a point on the seat to the same point on the seat in the next row -- and half at 36 inches. Virgin's coach seat pitch is 32 inches. That's something Fredda Weiss noticed when the person in front of her reclined her seat on a Virgin flight. The seat back was almost in her lap, she said, making the entertainment-system screen hard to see and the trip uncomfortable. "All the high-tech may be impressive, on first glance, but it pales in comparison to a more-comfortable space," she said.