The plane, an Airbus A320, is actually not named “Steve Jobs” — it’s named “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish,” after Jobs’ popular quote from his 2005 Stanford commencement speech. Here’s the full quote, for those of you who don’t remember the address:
“On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.”
The plane entered Virgin America’s fleet late last fall, and has the quote stenciled on its nose, just under the cockpit window. According to Virgin America, the jet’s name was submitted as part of an internal plane naming competition.
“The ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish’ aircraft name was actually submitted as a tribute to Mr. Jobs by one of our employees in an internal plane naming competition,” a Virgin America spokesperson told CNET.
It’s no surprise that Virgin America is paying tribute to tech innovator Jobs, since Virgin America is known for being (or attempting to be) on the cutting edge of technology (as cutting-edge as an airline can get, anyway). Virgin America offers fleet-wide in-flight Wi-Fi, a touchscreen entertainment system in every seat, and really cool pink and purple mood lights.
Virgin America’s fleet includes planes named “Air Colbert” (after comedian Stephen Colbert), “California Dreaming,” “Jefferson Airplane,” and “#Nerdbird” (after a Twitter hashtag).