VIA Airways / VIA Shuttle
24th In A Series: A Fictional US Boutique Airline
VIA Air Holdings is an American aviation holding company headquartered in Long Island City, Queens, New York, NY USA, which operates two boutique airlines: VIA Airways and VIA Shuttle. VIA Air Holdings is in turn a subsidiary of Foxx Ventures, a multinational venture capital conglomerate headquartered in Denver, Colorado USA and Dublin, Ireland.
Founded in 2003, VIA Air Holdings utilizes an all-Airbus A321neo fleet operating from two primary bases located in New York City: 1) VIA Airways operates from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), a major international airport; and s2) VIA Shuttle is based out of nearby LaGuardia Airport (LGA), a busy domestic airport.
VIA Shuttle caters heavily to business travelers, by offering scheduled flights departing hourly every business day between 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM from New York-LGA to Boston-BOS, Chicago-MDW, Miami-MIA and Washington-DCA. VIA Shuttle also operates a lighter schedule on weekends and holidays.
Meanwhile, VIA Airways focuses on the transatlantic and transcontinental business and leisure travel markets from the US East Coast, especially from New York-JFK. It offers daily scheduled flights to a select set of cities in western Europe and sthe western USA. VIA Airways offers flights from New York-JFK as follows:
New York-JFK «» Dublin-DUB
New York-JFK «» Honolulu-HNL
New York-JFK «» Las Vegas-LAS
New York-JFK «» Los Angeles-LAX
New York-JFK «» London-LHR
New York-JFK «» Paris-CDG
New York-JFK «» San Francisco-SFO
In addition to New York-JFK, the carrier also provides daily nonstop air service along these routes:
Chicago-ORD «» Dublin-DUB
Chicago-ORD «» London-LHR
Chicago-ORD «» Paris-CDG
Miami-MIA «» Dublin-DUB
Miami-MIA «» London-LHR
Miami-MIA «» Paris-CDG
Washington-IAD «» Dublin-DUB
Washington-IAD «» London-LHR
Washington-IAD «» Paris-CDG
VIA Air Holdings operates a maintenance base located at New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) in Newburgh, New York USA, which supports VIA’s fleet of ~65 A321neo aircraft.
History
Early Years
VIA Air Holdings was founded on 10 January 2003 by Foxx Ventures, an American multinational venture capital conglomerate owned by billionaire business magnate Roger J. “RJ” Foxx. The new holding company created the VIA Shuttle airline brand on 15 March 2003, with plans to initially operate a daily air shuttle service between New York-LGA «» Washington-DCA.
In early April 2003, Mr Foxx acquired ACMI Aircraft, a multinational aircraft management firm with operations in California and Ireland that was experiencing financial turbulence at the time. ACMI Aircraft was renamed to JetStream Aircraft Leasing, which later became JetStream Aerospace, one of the world’s largest aircraft management companies.
In May 2003, VIA Air Holdings acquired several Airbus A321-200 aircraft from Jetstream Aircraft Leasing and began setting forth plans to offer hourly air shuttle flights between New York-LGA «» Washington-DCA. Each aircraft was outfitted with 52 recliner-style business class seats sitting 4 abreast in the front cabin, while 78 premium economy class seats sitting 6 abreast were placed in the aft section.
The airline offered all customers in complementary nonalcoholic drinks and snacks, while business class passengers also received hot towel service and free amenity kits, as well as complementary beer and wine “welcome drinks” with proper ID. Because LGA «» DCA flight times at the time were roughly one hour long, it was never necessary to provide full meal service, thus reducing costs.
VIA Shuttle began scheduled service on 1 July 2003 at 5:00 AM, as planned. Weekend and holiday flights were more relaxed in frequency, usually seeing departures every 2 hours. Daily shuttle service was later added between New York-LGA «» Boston-BOS from 2 September 2003, while further service was expanded to New York-LGA «» Chicago-MDW on 5 January 2004.
VIA Shuttle has ever since worked diligently to maintain its schedule like clockwork, weather permitting, and has long been noted for having an excellent overall on-time track record.
Northeast USA Expansion
VIA Shuttle proved to be very profitable and popular, so the airline soon expanded its air shuttle service to include the Washington-DCA «» Boston-BOS and Washington-DCA «» Chicago-MDW routes, from 3 January 2005. Service between Boston-BOS «» Chicago-MDW followed from 12 September 2005.
Adding Miami-MIA To The Route Network
The carrier added Miami-MIA to its route network beginning in 2008, but due to the longer distance between Miami-MIA and the other 4 destinations within the VIA Shuttle network, departures were set to occur every 2 hours instead of every hour, for a total of 9 departures per day including weekends and holidays. Service between New York-LGA «» Miami-MIA began from 14 January 2008, followed by Miami-MIA «» Chicago-MDW on 3 March 2008 and Miami-MIA «» Washington-DCA on 17 March 2008. Service between Boston-BOS «» Miami-MIA arrived later, on 8 September 2008.
Acquiring The Airbus A321neo
Mr Foxx attended the Paris Air Show in late June 2011. Among other things, he arranged for the JetStream Aerospace leasing firm to place large orders for the entire line of Airbus A320neo family of aircraft. Around 30 of the Airbus A321neo variant were allocated to VIA Shuttle, to be delivered sometime during the mid-2010s.
VIA Airways Startup
Also during 2011, Mr Foxx and other senior management at VIA Air Holdings began working on starting up a 2nd boutique airline: VIA Airways. Plans were laid down to use the same incoming aircraft type as the VIA Shuttle aircraft: Airbus A321neos, each configured to carry 52 business class and 78 premium economy class seats, but to fly them on transatlantic routes to Europe instead.
The new airline would offer all the same services and amenities seen on the VIA Shuttle, while adding a light dinner and full breakfast service on overnight flights over to Europe, and a full lunch and light dinner service for the return flight back to New York-JFK. VIA Air Holdings acquired the necessary landing rights and slots, then acquired more Airbus A321-200s to begin the service.
As part of an advertising campaign, the company hired a pair of European comedians - French comic and actor Arianne Travers and British standup comedian Ferris Barker - to produce a series of humorous commercials and ads to promote VIA Airways in the USA, Britain and France, performed in both English and French. The two actors also produced entertaining preflight safety briefing videos for the airline, which themselves soon became popular over the Internet.
After some procedural delays, on 2 May 2012 VIA Airways officially began scheduled air service between New York-JFK «» Paris-CDG and New York-JFK «» London-LHR. Thanks to VIA Airways’ marketing plan, the service became profitable very quickly.
The carrier decided to continue using similar spokespersons in succeeding years to promote new routes as they were added to its network. In May 2013 service between New York-JFK «» Dublin-DUB was also added, and zany Irish comedian Frank McGlinchy joined the advertising campaign to help promote it. When VIA Airways added service from Chicago to Europe in 2014, grouchy older comedian Jonathan Carr was cast to represent the Windy City, and in 2015 insult comic Stanley O’Toole came aboard when service between New York-JFK «» Los Angeles-LAX and New York-JFK «» San Francisco-SFO was initiated. When New York-JFK «» Las Vegas-LAS was added to the network in 2016, ushered in with appearances by the famous Las Vegas lounge singer Kole Keller.
For whatever reason, VIA Airways added Washington-IAD to the route network during the spring of 2018 without any sort of fanfare. By then, Ms Travers began starring in a US TV romantic sitcom, Josh and Chloé, while also taking supporting roles in a series of hit movies. Meanwhile, Mr Barker moved on to hosting a surprisingly informative yet very popular comedy-based news show on American cable TV called WTF with Ferris Barker.
The Airbus A321neo Replaces The Airbus A321-200
After experiencing some unexpected delays in the delivery of its newer aircraft, VIA Shuttle finally introduced its first Airbus A321neo airliners on 17 October 2017, with the airliner flying New York-LGA «» Washington-DCA route. VIA Airways received its first A321neo a few weeks later, and it began flying New York-JFK «» Paris-CDG on 19 November 2017.
The last Airbus A321-200 left the VIA Air Holdings fold on 11 November 2022, after which both of its airlines flew the Airbus A321neo exclusively.
Covid-19 Response
Covid-19 struck New York early and very hard, and both VIA Shuttle and VIA Airways were forced to suspend all scheduled operations in March 2020. Rather than accepting government financial aid with various strings attached, Mr Foxx furloughed most employees and personally paid their salaries from his own pocket.
By early May 2020 VIA Shuttle resumed air service on a limited basis while providing free flights to public health employees and first responders on official business. At the same time, both VIA Shuttle and VIA Airways began providing preighter flights systemwide using passenger airliners temporarily as cargo planes, where ground crew would load freight into the passenger cabins. In addition to providing a much-needed service at the time, it also helped both airlines stay busy and to more or less break even financially.
Regular air service for all passengers resumed in November 2020 with face mask requirements for both passengers and crew set in place.
Other Recent Developments
During the mid to late 2010s, VIA Air Holdings signed leases to acquire longer ranged Airbus A321LR aircraft to supplement the company’s incoming A321neo jets. Shortly after the Airbus A321XLR program was launched in June 2019, some of the A321LR orders were upgraded to A321XLRs.
The first two A321LRs entered the fleet in late April 2021, when they opened nonstop flights between Miami-MIA «» London-LHR and Miami-MIA «» Paris-CDG. A 3rd A321LR opened flights between Miami-MIA «» Dublin-DUB in September 2021.
In early 2025, comedian-actors Ashton Burns and Jazmine Lloyd - best known for their roles as stoner-surfers in the cable TV series Half Baked - were hired to promote the addition of nonstop daily service between New York-JFK «» Honolulu-HNL. Meanwhile, Arianne Travers and Ferris Barker returned to produce a new version of their infamous 2012 pre-flight safety briefing video, this time featuring Mr Burns and Ms Lloyd posing as inept passengers being guided by the “wiser” Ms Travers and Mr Barker. The new video was a big hit with social media, and has since been featured in more than a few Internet memes.
Future Plans
Market conditions permitting, VIA Air Holdings has plans to soon initiate a US West Coast presence that is expected to offer hourly departures similar to the VIA Shuttle schedule. Routes are expected to operate between the following cities:
Los Angeles-LAX «» San Francisco-SFO
Los Angeles-LAX «» Oakland-OAK
Los Angeles-LAX «» San Jose-SJC
Los Angeles-LAX «» Seattle-SEA
San Francisco-SFO «» San Diego-SAN
San Francisco-SFO «» Seattle-SEA
Additional routes under consideration for later inclusion appear to include:
Los Angeles-BUR «» Oakland-OAK
Los Angeles-BUR «» San Francisco-SFO
Los Angeles-BUR «» San Jose-SJC
Santa Ana-SNA «» Oakland-OAK
Santa Ana-SNA «» San Francisco-SFO
Santa Ana-SNA «» San Jose-SJC
In addition, the carrier has firm plans to offer daily service on these routes:
Los Angeles-LAX «» Honolulu-HNL
Los Angeles-LAX «» Tahiti-PPT
San Francisco-SFO «» Honolulu-HNL
San Francisco-SFO «» Tahiti-PPT
It has also been rumored but not yet confirmed that daily air service to/from Los Cabos-SJD, Las Vegas-LAS, and Puerto Vallarta-PVR might also be in the cards.
Destinations
VIA Airways Destinations
VIA Airways currently serves the following destinations with one or more daily scheduled flights.
[ VIA Airways System Route Map ]
Chicago-ORD, USA - Focus City
Dublin-DUB, Ireland
Honolulu-HNL, Hawaii USA
London-LHR, UK
Los Angeles-LAX, California USA
Miami-MIA, Florida USA - Focus City
New York-JFK, New York USA - Primary Base
Paris-CDG, France
San Francisco-SFO, California USA
Washington-IAD, DC/Virginia USA
VIA Shuttle Destinations
VIA Shuttle currently serves the following destinations with hourly departures Monday-Friday between 5:00 AM and 10:00 PM, and departures occurring every 2 hours between 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM on weekends and holidays.
[ VIA Shuttle System Route Map ]
Boston-BOS, Massachusetts USA
Chicago-MDW, Illinois USA
New York-LGA, New York USA - Primary Base
Washington-DCA, DC/Virginia USA
Fleet Maintenance Base
VIA Air Holdings operates a joint maintenance base on behalf of VIA Airways and VIA Shuttle at the following location:
Newburgh-SWF, New York USA
Fleet
Current Fleet
VIA Shuttle and VIA Airways currently operate the following aircraft.
† = JStream original aircraft
Airbus A321neo - VIA Shuttle and VIA Airways - †
Airbus A321LR - VIA Airways only - †
Airbus A321XLR - VIA Airways only - †
Former Fleet
VIA Shuttle and VIA Airways previously operated the following aircraft.
† = JStream original aircraft
Airbus A321-200 - VIA Shuttle and VIA Airways - †
=Nota Bene=
VIA Shuttle was one of the very first fictional airlines I developed back in late 2022. It was inspired by the iconic Eastern Air Lines Shuttle, which was operated 1961-1989. Thereafter it passed through several hands, first becoming the Trump Shuttle (1989-1992), then US Airways Shuttle (1992-2015), and finally American Airlines Shuttle (2015-2021) before American Airlines discontinued it in 2021 due to Covid-19.
Pan Am Airlines also had its own Shuttle, the Pan Am Shuttle, which was started in 1986. Delta Airlines acquired the shuttle when Pan Am ceased operations in 1991, rebranding it as the Delta Shuttle. It continues to operate to the current day.
Delta Shuttle uses Airbus A220s and Embraer 170s/175s, but I decided to go bigger and selected the Airbus A321neo. I chose the A321neo and its subvariants over the Boeing 737 MAX 9 and Boeing 737 MAX 10 for no particular reason. Having said that, I did recently draw up the Airbus A321-200 and A321neo templates and this article seemed like a good place to put those templates to good use. It also doesn’t hurt that the A321LR and A321XLR happen to have the range to handle longer routes like Miami-MIA «» Paris-CDG and New York-JFK «» Honolulu-HNL, which the Boeing narrowbodies are currently unable to do.
I decided to have VIA Airways and VIA Shuttle operate as independent carriers and not as a subsidiary of a major carrier, mainly for storytelling purposes. I suppose an all-business class airline working the US East Coast might work - maybe - but I believe a business-oriented carrier working the US East Coast with 2-class business and premium economy service would probably have a better shot at finding ongoing success.
Lastly, Roger “RJ” Foxx, the billionaire magnate owner featured in the story, is not based on any real life person; he’s totally fictional. I’ve used the RJ Foxx character before in other storytelling, so he sort of came in handy for this particular article. RJ Foxx might be best thought of as a hybrid of Steve Jobs (the intense, tech-related side) and Richard Branson (the multi-talented, magnate/adventurous dude side). I don’t really see him as a malevolent techlord a$$hole of the sort we frequently see wandering about the Earth these days. Most techlords would not be interested in running an airline anyway, because airline profit margins tend to be much thinner than those seen at many high tech businesses.
All liveries depicted in this article were conceived and drawn by the Author.
All aircraft templates depicted in this article are original, in-house made content created by the Author. (See the complete list of JStream original aircraft templates.)
Route Maps used in this article were created using Great Circle Map.