Virgin America was named winner of the Airline Staff Service Excellence North America award at the 2011 World Airline Awards, in a ceremony held in the French Air and Space Museum at the Paris Air Show.  

The runners-up in the Airline Staff Service Excellence North America category are WestJet taking 2nd place in the category, ahead of jetBlue Airways in 3rd position.

Staff Service Excellence - North America 1 Virgin America 2 WestJet 3 jetBlue Airways Voted by over 18.8 million airline passengers from 100 different nationalities, the World Airline Awards are the most prestigious quality recognition of front-line product and service standards for the world airline industry. With 200 airlines featured, the awards measure customer satisfaction levels across 38 different items of airline front-line product and service.

David Cush, President & CEO, Virgin America "We are honored to receive these World Airline Awards, since they represent recognition from our guests who have helped us to achieve the remarkable successes we have realized in less than four years of operation," said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush. "Virgin America strives to create a memorable experience and to always put our guests first. The award for excellent staff service is acknowledgement that we can only deliver on that promise with the best and most dedicated teammates in the business, who everyday reinvent the flying experience for our guests."

	Mr Edward Plaisted - CEO, SKYTRAX
"We congratulate Virgin America on their success in 2 awards categories this year. Being named as the Best Low-Cost Airline North America in a region with so many competitors is a real testament to the quality of the Virgin America experience. The Staff Service Excellence North America award shows that it is possible to provide the highest levels of customer service within the low-cost business model and Virgin America serves as an excellent example to other carriers around the world that low-cost does not have to mean low-service."