Branson runs on his own schedule

Last week Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn said that the first glide tests of SpaceShipTwo would take by the end of this year, not offering a timetable for either powered test flights or the beginning of commercial service. However, in Boston this week to mark the beginning of Virgin American flights into Logan Airport, Richard Branson offered a more accelerated timeline, saying that “Virgin Galactic will take off in November.” What exactly “take off” means in this context could be debated, although the average reader is likely to interpret this as to when service would begin, not the beginning of test flights, powered or unpowered.