SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin America, the award-winning domestic airline, today announces the appointment of Rachel Bell as the Company's new Vice President and Controller effective immediately. Bell, who since 2012 has served as the airline's Director of Internal Audit, will oversee the California-based airline's day-to-day accounting and financial reporting functions. Bell brings to her new role extensive finance and accounting expertise, along with broad experience in process improvement and internal audit support gained in work that spans industries.  <br /><br />"In her two years at Virgin America, Rachel has quickly established herself as a respected team leader in her function.  Her breadth of accounting, compliance and financial reporting experience will be invaluable as Virgin America prepares for a potential entry into the public markets," said Peter Hunt, the Company's Chief Financial Officer. "I am very pleased to promote Rachel to this key position and am confident in her ability to lead our accounting and financial reporting team through the growth that lies ahead."<br /><br />Bell joined the Company in May 2012, assuming responsibility for chartering and growing Virgin America's internal audit function and preparing the Company for a potential initial public offering by leading financial process improvement activities at the airline.  <br /><br />Before joining Virgin America, Bell was Managing Director in the San Francisco office of global business and risk consulting firm Protiviti from 2003 to 2011. Prior to her tenure at Protiviti, Bell was Senior Manager of Corporate Internal Audit for Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International, a leading hotel management company. Prior to that, Rachel was a Principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Management Consulting group, where she supported clients including Freddie Mac and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.<br /><br />Bell earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. <br /><br />Bell will report to Hunt and be based at Virgin America's Burlingame, California headquarters.<br /><br />About Virgin America: Headquartered in California, Virgin America, which celebrated its sixth year of operations in August, offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel and has swept the industry awards. Most recently, Virgin America was named "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure's 2013 'World's Best' Awards,' an award the carrier has won every year since 2008. In May, Virgin America was voted "Best Airline" by Consumer Reports Magazine. In April, Virgin America topped the 2012 Airline Quality Rating, a joint research project conducted annually by faculty at Wichita State University and Purdue University that analyzes airline data as reported by the DOT. Virgin America was named "Best Domestic Airline" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 'Readers' Choice' Awards. The airline's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport (SFO)'s sleek and sustainable Terminal 2. Virgin America offers Gogo™ WiFi on every flight and hosts the largest in-flight entertainment library in the North American skies via the touch-screen Red™ platform, and provides power outlets near every seat. Since its launch in 2007, Virgin America has created 2,600 new jobs and now flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, Washington D.C. (IAD and DCA), Las Vegas, San Diego, Seattle, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Cabos, Cancun, Chicago, Puerto Vallarta, Palm Springs (seasonal), Philadelphia, Portland, San Jose, Austin.