Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is a major American airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ultra low-cost business model with minimal inclusions in fares and a greater number of add-on fees.
Allegiant Air was founded in January 1997 by Mitch Allee (owner, CEO), Jim Patterson (president), and Capt. Dave Beadle (chief pilot) under the name WestJet Express.[1] After losing a trademark dispute with Westjet Air Center of Rapid City, South Dakota, and recognizing the name's similarity to WestJet Airlines of Calgary, Alberta, the airline adopted the name Allegiant Air and received FAA and US DOT certification for scheduled and charter domestic operations on June 19, 1998. The airline also has authority for charter service to Canada and Mexico.[6]
The former Allegiant Air logo used from 2003 to 2010.A former Allegiant Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 wearing the old livery in 2007.
Allegiant Air opened a small hub in Long Beach, California (LGB) and in 2000 was operating nonstop flights to Fresno and Las Vegas in addition to Fresno-Las Vegas nonstop service.[8] Later in 2000, Allegiant continued to expand and was operating the only nonstop jet service between Lake Tahoe Airport and Long Beach Airport in addition to operating new flights into Portland, Oregon and Reno with Portland-Reno and Reno-Fresno nonstops and direct one-stop service between Portland and Fresno via Reno.[9]
Citing higher fuel costs as a major factor, Allegiant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000.[10] The bankruptcy allowed Maurice J. Gallagher Jr., one of the airline's major creditors, to gain control of the business. A veteran leader of low-cost airlines, Gallagher had worked with WestAir and was one of the founders of ValuJet Airlines. In June 2001, Gallagher restructured Allegiant to a low-cost model, focusing on smaller markets that larger airlines did not serve with mainline aircraft. Allegiant's headquarters and operations were also moved to Las Vegas.[11]
In the fall of 2001, Allegiant exited bankruptcy and the case was officially closed in early 2002.[12] In March 2002, Allegiant entered into a long-term contract with Harrah's to provide charter services to its casinos in Laughlin and Reno, Nevada.[13] At the same time, the airline acquired its first McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliner. From 2002 through 2004, the airline developed its scheduled-service business model. By 2004, Allegiant was flying from 13 small cities to Las Vegas and offering bundled air and hotel packages.
In May 2005, the airline's holding company, Allegiant Travel, completed a private equity placement worth $39.5 million.[14] In November 2006, Allegiant filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in anticipation of a planned initial public offering of its Common Stock. It raised $94.5 million in equity capital with 5.75 million shares worth $18 each.[14] It began trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol "ALGT" in December 2006.[14]
Also in 2006, the airline had a fleet of 21 MD-80s and was flying non-stop to and from 40 small cities. Most of those flights went to and from the hubs of Las Vegas or Orlando/Sanford, Florida.[11] In October 2007, Allegiant opened a fourth focus city and operations base at Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona, connecting 13 cities already served by Allegiant and one new city to the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Mesa airport joined Las Vegas, Orlando, and Tampa/St. Petersburg as major hubs for the airline. At the time, Allegiant maintained a fleet of 32 planes going to 53 destinations in total.[15] The Mesa airport announced a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) expansion in August 2008, which increased the number of gates from two to four and allowed Allegiant to triple the number of flights from Phoenix.
In January 2010, the airline celebrated its one-millionth passenger to fly out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Allegiant's parent company also announced that it had purchased 18 additional used MD-80 aircraft from Scandinavian Airlines.[17] In February 2010, Allegiant opened its ninth base at Grand Rapids' Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Michigan. The airline based two McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft in Grand Rapids, but ended their airport's status in 2011. The airline continues to fly out of Grand Rapids in a reduced capacity.[18]
On July 1, 2010, Allegiant returned to Long Beach Airport (LGB) in Long Beach, California, having previously served LGB with DC-9 jets with nonstop flights to Las Vegas (LAS) and Lake Tahoe (TVL) in 2000.[19][20] The airline also intended to fly from Bellingham and Stockton several times a week; however, that plan never came to fruition. Allegiant continues to serve Stockton with flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix/Mesa and San Diego.[21] About 16 months later in November 2011, Allegiant closed its Long Beach facility.[22]
In March 2010, Allegiant purchased six used Boeing 757-200 jetliners as part of plans to begin flights to Hawaii, with deliveries from early 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2011.[23] It gained the approval for type with the FAA in July 2011,[24] and then worked with the FAA to obtain the appropriate ETOPS rating in order to be able to serve Hawaii. Allegiant no longer operates service to Hawaii.[25]
In mid-2015, a rash of midair breakdowns drew federal scrutiny. "Before the night was finished on June 25, 2015, five Allegiant flights had been interrupted in four hours, all because different planes had failed in midair," reported the Tampa Bay Times.[26] Since October 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration has kept Allegiant under close supervision.[27][28][29]
Allegiant Air is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company, a publicly traded holding company that also operates Sunseeker Resorts. The corporate headquarters for both the airline and its holding company are in Summerlin, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas.[36]
Business model
Allegiant aims primarily to serve leisure travelers, particularly those in colder northern climates, going to warm-weather tourist destinations such as Punta Gorda, Tampa, Las Vegas, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.[37] The airline often serves smaller destinations that have few direct flights by major carriers,[38] tends to fly routes which avoid competition from other airlines, with only 18% of its 518 routes as of early 2020 also flown nonstop by other airlines.[39][40]
The airline also seeks to maintain a low operating cost at airports.[41] For example, Allegiant sometimes rents ticket counters on an hourly basis and contracts with other companies to provide staffing.[11][42] The company also prefers to use secondary airports when those facilities charge smaller fees, such as Orlando Sanford, MidAmerica St. Louis, and Phoenix–Mesa, where Allegiant is the only commercial carrier with year-round service.[43]
Although it does not fly to Canada, Allegiant advertises in the country and flies from about a dozen small airports near the Canada–U.S. border. Many of its customers at airports such as Bellingham, Washington and Plattsburgh, New York are Canadians, who save money on airfare by crossing the border to the U.S. and flying domestic routes from U.S. airports.[44]
Part of the airline's business model includes keeping labor and fleet costs low. Allegiant purchases jets second hand or at steep discounts.[11][45] Given the low initial purchase price, Allegiant is able to operate its aircraft at a lower duty cycle (seven flight hours per day on average compared to 13 hours per day at JetBlue Airways), which helps keep labor costs lower.[11] Allegiant schedules their crew members so that they typically return to their home base at the end of the day, avoiding the expense of hotel rooms.[45]
Allegiant maintains control over pricing by offering flights exclusively through its website, which also offers ancillary products for a fee. It has no toll-free phone number but it does sell tickets through internet travel agencies.[38] It also does not offer any connecting services, with customers only able to purchase non-stop itineraries on its website.
Ancillary revenue
Like Ryanair, the low-cost airline founded by Tony Ryan, whose family has also invested in Allegiant, the airline seeks ancillary revenue to supplement ticket revenue.[11]
These ancillary fees include those for checking luggage, carrying on luggage (other than a small personal item), buying food and drinks on board, obtaining advance seat assignments, and more.[38][45][46] Allegiant CEO Maurice Gallagher said in 2009, "We collect $110 from you at the end of your trip. If I tried to charge you $110 up front, you wouldn't pay it. But if I sell you a $75 ticket and you self-select the rest, you will."[47]
Allegiant also earns commissions by offering hotel rooms, car rentals and admission to tourist attractions on its website. It sells package vacations under the brand name Allegiant Vacations. The company has arrangements with 34 hotels in Las Vegas and 21 in the Orlando and Daytona Beach, Florida, areas. In 2008, the airline sold 400,000 hotel room nights.[47] Commissions on hotel and rental car packages are up to one-third of the airline's revenue.[45][47]
In 2009, ancillary revenues were $33.35 per passenger. [48] In Q2 of 2024 ancillary revenues were $75.34 per passenger. [49]
Charter flights
Allegiant's air charter operation contributed 7% of its revenue in 2009.[50]
In March 2011, Allegiant took over charter service to Wendover Airport for Peppermill Casinos, Inc. to shuttle customers to Peppermill's three casinos in West Wendover, Nevada; the Montego Bay Resort, the Rainbow Wendover and the Peppermill Wendover.[51] Allegiant based one 150-seat, MD-80 series jet aircraft in Wendover and more than 20 employees, including maintenance, flight crews and station personnel.[52]
Allegiant also transports firefighters for the United States Forest Service as well as college basketball teams.[50] Allegiant had a contract to supply charter flights from Miami to four cities in Cuba beginning June 2009. One aircraft was committed to the contract.[50] The contract was for fixed-fee flying, meaning all the airline was required to do was provide the dry aircraft and the flight crew. The contractor was responsible for all other costs including fuel. However, Allegiant ended this service in August 2009.[53]
Allegiant Air's livery features a bright sunburst design on the tail, emphasizing the airline's "sun" destinations. A similar livery is used by Jet2.com on aircraft which carry the Jet2holidays livery, the only difference being the airline name on the aircraft. The livery was created for the airline by Tiami Designs, Atlanta, Georgia.[61]
Controversies
Workers' right to organize
Flight attendants at the carrier voted to organize their workgroup under the Transport Workers Union of America in December 2010, citing scheduling concerns among other issues in their work rules, and the airline's pilots elected to vote on whether to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in July 2012.[62] In August 2012, the pilots voted to organize and joined the Teamsters.[63] Allegiant's chairman and CEO, Maurice J. Gallagher Jr., has been critical of the unionization of airline employees, and has stated, "Unionization is one of those things that clogs the arteries and makes you less quick and not as nimble as you need to be on top of your game... In this industry and others that are heavily unionized, you ultimately end up with bankruptcy as the primary driver."[62]
In 2015 Allegiant Air was monitored by the FAA after several emergency landings and aborted takeoffs. ABC interviewed a former Allegiant mechanic, who said "Dedicated steps were not being performed with maintenance manuals or even with general practices, before an aircraft is released."[64] A survey found that 46 of the company's 86 aircraft had made emergency landings, all of which involved MD-80s.[65] The average age of Allegiant's MD-80 fleet was 29 years, compared to less than 13 years for its Airbus fleet.[66]
In May 2016, the FAA confirmed they moved up a regularly scheduled five-year inspection.[67] Allegiant Air proclaims the FAA gave them a clean bill of health after the 2016 audit.[68]
In November 2016 the Tampa Bay Times noted that Allegiant's planes were four times more likely to have in-flight failures than other major US airlines,[69] and a 60 Minutes report by CBS News in 2018 continued to investigate the issues.[70] Public records cited in the investigation found that the airline had more than 100 serious mechanical incidents between January 1, 2016, and October 31, 2017, including "mid-air engine failures, smoke and fumes in the cabin, rapid descents, flight control malfunctions, hydraulic leaks and aborted takeoffs."[70] Other public records further revealed that Allegiant aircraft, on average, were nearly three and a half times more likely to have mid-air breakdowns than American, United, Delta, JetBlue and Spirit.[70] Allegiant responded to the investigation stating that many of the issues occurred on their older MD-80 model aircraft which have since been replaced with Airbus A320,[71] and also defended its safety record, citing the 2016 FAA audit, which found the company's safety issues "minor" and "non-systemic."[71]
As of December 2021, Allegiant offers service to 133[73] destinations throughout the United States, mostly to smaller non-hub regional airports and all usually only a few times each week. It chooses its routes after calculating expected costs and revenue and adds or ends service to particular destinations as demand warrants.
Top domestic markets
Top domestic markets (February 2022–January 2023)[74]
Allegiant Air is known in the aviation industry for purchasing jets second-hand or at steep discounts.[11][45] Used aircraft tend to be significantly less fuel efficient, but fuel costs are also less of a problem for Allegiant which operates aircraft at relatively low duty cycles.[citation needed]
At the start of operations in the late 1990s, Allegiant purchased used McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jets, which it operated until 2002, when they were replaced by newer, but still aged, McDonnell Douglas MD-80s, a later variant of the DC-9.[citation needed]
Starting in 2010, Allegiant purchased six Boeing 757-200 aircraft from Thomson Airways.[79] Over the next few years the airline experimented operating service between Hawaii and several cities.[80] Ultimately, Allegiant discontinued the service and slowly disposed of the planes rather than incur the expense of performing comprehensive D checks on the aging planes.[81]
In 2016, Allegiant purchased its first new aircraft, buying 13 A320s direct from Airbus, taking advantage of lower prices for an older model as the aircraft manufacturer prepared to begin production of the Airbus A320neo.[89] These new aircraft seat 186 passengers due to a smaller lavatory.[90]
On October 31, 2017, the final 757 was retired from service, and in November 2018, the last MD-80s operated by Allegiant were retired.[91][66]
Allegiant purchased additional new aircraft in January 2022, this time buying 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, taking advantage of low prices as other airlines cancelled their orders in the wake of the nearly two year grounding of the type.[92][93][77] Allegiant plans on retiring the oldest Airbus A320 aircraft in its fleet that are configured with 177 seats, but will continue to operate its other A320s alongside the 737 MAX.[77]
Historical fleet
Allegiant Air previously also operated the following aircraft types:[citation needed]
On March 29, 2007, Allegiant Air Flight 758, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, experienced a hydraulic failure that prevented the nosegear from deploying on final approach to Orlando Sanford International Airport. The aircraft landed safely with only one minor injury during evacuation among the 157 passengers and crew. The plane suffered substantial damage, but it was repaired and placed back into service.[94]
On July 23, 2015, an Allegiant aircraft attempted to fly to Hector International Airport in Fargo, North Dakota, which was at the time within a temporary flight restriction due to a rehearsal by the Blue Angels flight team for an upcoming air show.[95] The pilots then declared a fuel emergency, stating, "Yeah, listen, we're bingo [empty] fuel here in about probably three to four minutes and I got to come in and land." The pilots were scolded by the airport's tower, who said, "Your company...should have been aware of this for a number of months," regarding the airspace restrictions. The pilots flying the aircraft were, at the time, the airline's vice president of flight operations and its director of flight safety.[96]
^Lash, Nathaniel; LaForgia, Michael (December 16, 2016). "BREAKDOWN OF OVERSIGHT". Tampa Bay Tribune. Archived from the original on December 18, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^Jane Roberts (December 20, 2007). "Tunica hopes for more flights". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
^Lash, Nathaniel. "60 Minutes' Allegiant investigation: What's new and what isn't". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2018. By 'comprehensive audit,' Gust is likely referring to the 2016 review of Allegiant's FAA certificate. Nevertheless, CBS came up with over a hundred reports of serious mechanical problems in Allegiant's fleet since then.
^Lash, Nathaniel; Levesque, William R.; Cormier, Anthony (November 2, 2016). "Breakdown at 30,000 Feet". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
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