My phone is Virgin Mobile. I still have the slippers I got flying to London from Orlando on Virgin Atlantic. And as of today, I can start booking domestic flights on Virgin America. All of us can. Forget Posh and Becks—Richard Branson has just arrived, America. Tickets went on sale at 6 a.m. this morning for the first flights next month on the British billionaire’s start-up airline venture.

Based in the city by the bay, the carrier’s initial routes are San Francisco to JFK in New York City, and San Francisco to Los Angeles. During the next few months, according to the article, Washington Dulles and Las Vegas will be added to the network.

To me, there’s little to set one American airline experience above another these days. Still, I’ll be curious to see what Branson’s baby has in store for those of us in the States.

One way the airline hopes to differentiate itself is with a state-of-the-art entertainment system.

From a story in USA Today:

The centerpiece of its service will [be] an in-flight entertainment system dubbed “Red” in a reference to Virgin planes’ red-painted tails. It is “arguably two or more generations ahead of anything in the U.S. market today,” CEO Reid says.

Offerings include 18 channels of live TV from DISH network, pay-per-view movies, a number of audio channels, and electronic games. Passengers also will be able to use the Red system to order meals, for which they will pay extra.

Related on World Hum:
* Branson Pledges Airline and Train Profits to Renewable Energy Research
* Singapore, United Arab Emirates Jump Into Space Tourism Race

Photo by misocrazy via Flickr, (Creative Commons).