Allegiant Air
| File:Allegiantlogo.png | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1997 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | McCarran International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Orlando Sanford International Airport St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 26 | ||||||
| Destinations | 53 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Las Vegas, Nevada | ||||||
| Key people | Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. (President and CEO) | ||||||
| Website | http://www.allegiantair.com | ||||||
Allegiant Air is an airline, owned by Allegiant Travel Co. (Nasdaq: ALGT), with headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada that operates scheduled and charter flights. The airline also offers vacation packages through its Allegiant Vacations affiliate.
Allegiant Air targets small cities with limited passenger airline service. Some Allegiant destinations are secondary airports that are close to large metropolitan areas; others are small markets with little or no other airline service.
History
Allegiant Air was founded in 1997 under the name WestJet Express. After a trademark dispute with West Jet Air Center of Rapid City, South Dakota and with the name's similarity to WestJet Airlines of Calgary, Alberta, the airline adopted the name Allegiant Air and received its operating certificate for scheduled and charter domestic operations in 1998. The airline also has authority for charter service to Canada and Mexico.
Scheduled service began on October 15, 1999, between Las Vegas and the airline's initial hub in Fresno, California, with Douglas DC-9-21 and DC-9-51 aircraft. Shortly after the shut down of WinAir Airlines, Allegiant Air opened a hub in Long Beach, California, mirroring WinAir's network. The airline was unable to bring in enough revenue to cover its costs, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 13, 2000.
In June 2001, Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. joined the airline and soon became its President and Chief Executive Officer. Having formerly worked with WestAir and ValuJet Airlines, Gallagher led the airline's transformation into its present form, moving the base to Las Vegas and focusing on smaller markets that larger airlines did not serve. From 2001, they have grown from 2 destinations to almost 50 from Las Vegas, NV, Orlando/Sanford, FL, and St Petersburg, FL
On November 20, 2006, Allegiant Air announced that it had filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in anticipation of a planned initial public offering of its Common Stock. The company plans to list its shares on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol "ALGT".
Reported on December 18, 2006, a four-year, $30 million contract was signed with American Airlines. In this contract, American Airlines' Tulsa, Oklahoma maintenance base will now provide regular, detailed maintenance checks on all of Allegiant's aircraft.
Allegiant Vacations
Allegiant Vacations functions as an in house package vacation vendor. The company has arrangements with 34 hotel properties in Las Vegas and 21 in the Orlando and Daytona Beach, Florida areas. The vacations division also has partnerships with several rental car agencies and show-ticket Vendors.
Destinations
Allegiant Air currently flies to 48 destinations throughout the United States. Upcoming schedule changes will increase their destination count to 53 when the airline starts service to Redmond/Bend, Oregon on March 29, Medford, Oregon on April 5, Eugene, Oregon on May 10, Tri-Cities, Tennessee on May 17, and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, North Carolina on May 24, 2007.
Fleet
As of March 2007, Allegiant Air has 26 aircraft in its fleet consisting of: [1]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Economy) |
Routes |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | 5 | 150 | All |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 5 | 150 | All |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 14 | 150 | All |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-87 | 2 | 130 | All |
As of March 2007, the average age of the Allegiant Air fleet was 16.5 years. [2]
Charter info
Allegiant currently has two contracts for track programs with Harrah's Entertainment. Two aircraft are provided, one based in Reno, Nevada and the other in Laughlin, Nevada, bringing customers from cities across the United States to the Harrah's Nevada casinos. Allegiant markets its charter services to a variety of customers in need of on demand charter services, such as university athletic teams, corporations, and governments.
External links
References
- Franklin, John (November/December 2005). "Allegiant Air: Finding a Niche in Las Vegas and Orlando". Airliners: The World's Airline Magazine. World Transport Press. pp. 35–39.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)