Virgin America filed a motion to stop Continental Airlines from further delaying the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) from processing its application as a new U.S. domestic airline. Virgin first filed the motion to receive certification five months ago, but Continental has objected repeatedly to the filing. Foreign ownership of U.S. airlines is at the crux of a battle between the U.S and E.U. over open skies agreements in Europe, with many carriers drawn into the fray. Virgin America would like to launch domestic U.S. scheduled airline service in 2006. Virgin says the company is owned and controlled by U.S. citizens and it has agreements for 34 jets. Virgin America's corporate headquarters is in Burlingame, CA, and it plans to operate a based at San Francisco International Airport.
