News from the airline nerds yesterday morning was that the brass over at Virgin America was on a secret mission to Toulouse, France, the headquarters of Airbus. The goal? The acquisition of sixty new aircraft for use in the fleet starting in 2013.

Sixty new aircraft! That's a lot of growth for the fledgling San Francisco based carrier, which is good news for us consumers. As they expand through the US market and even into the far reaches of North America, more competition among carriers means that costs will stay low and that quality will stay high -- two great things for any airline passenger.

January's order includes 30 of the new A320neo configurations, the fancy New Engine Options that burn almost 16% less fuel and have blended winglets. And as usual, all of the aircraft will carry the trademark mood lighting and bang up in flight entertainment.

Hopefully this means that expansion across North America will ramp up through 2011 and 2012 -- the Midwest is getting lonely with its legacy carriers!

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