Description
Allegiant Air is an American ultra-low cost airline that operates scheduled and charter flights. As a major air carrier, it is the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America.
Founded in 1997 as WestJet Express, it is wholly owned by Allegiant Travel Company, a publicly traded company with 4,000 employees and over US$2.6 billion market capitalization in 2016. The corporate headquarters are in Summerlin, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas.
History
Establishment
Allegiant Air was founded in January 1997 by Mitch Allee (owner, CEO), Jim Patterson (president) and Dave Beadle (chief pilot), under the name WestJet Express. After losing a trademark dispute with West Jet 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.
1990s
Scheduled service began on October 15, 1998, between Las Vegas and the airline's original hub in Fresno, California at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, with Douglas DC-9-21 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 jetliners. During the second half of 1999, the airline was operating nonstop flights between Fresno and Las Vegas, Burbank and Lake Tahoe, and Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe as well as flying one-stop direct service between Fresno and Lake Tahoe via Las Vegas. Shortly after WinAir Airlines closed in 1999.
2000s
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. Later in 2000, Allegiant continued to expand and was operating the only nonstop jet service between Lake Tahoe Airport from 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.
Citing higher fuel costs as a major factor, Allegiant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000. 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 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.
In the fall of 2001, Allegiant exited bankruptcy and the case was officially closed in early 2002. 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. 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 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 that was funded by the investment firms of ComVest and Irelandia II. 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. It began trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol "ALGT" in December 2006.
Also in 2006, the airline had a fleet of 21 MD-80s and was flying non-stop to and from 40 small cities, including Allentown, Pennsylvania, Duluth, Minnesota, and Idaho Falls, Idaho. Most of those flights went to and from the hubs of Las Vegas or Orlando Sanford International Airport, Florida. In October 2007, Allegiant opened a fourth focus city and operations base at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in 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. 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. The expansion was funded by a loan from Allegiant which will be repaid by passenger fees.
On November 14, 2007, Allegiant opened its fifth focus city and operations base at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, connecting other Allegiant cities to South Florida.
In January 2008, Allegiant opened its sixth base at Washington's Bellingham International Airport. The airline bases two McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft in Bellingham as part of the expansion. Routes served exclusively from Bellingham include Las Vegas, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Francisco and Phoenix. Expansion in Bellingham has been largely driven by its proximity to Greater Vancouver, British Columbia.
2010s
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. 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.
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. The airline also intended to fly from Bellingham International Airport and Stockton several times a week; however, there is no service at present flown between these two cities, although Allegiant continues to serve Stockton with flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix/Mesa and San Diego. In November 2011, Allegiant closed its Long Beach facility and consolidated all Los Angeles area flights at Los Angeles International (LAX).
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. It gained the approval for type with the FAA in July 2011, and then worked with the FAA to obtain the appropriate ETOPS rating in order to be able to serve Hawaii. Allegiant no longer operates nonstop service to Honolulu from Las Vegas.
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. Since October 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration has kept Allegiant under close supervision.
In July 2015, Allegiant Air announced that bases would be established at the Asheville Regional Airport and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
In August 2017, Allegiant announced that a new base would be established at the Indianapolis International Airport. The base began operations in early 2018. Throughout 2017, the airline flew 12 million passengers on its 99 planes to 120 destinations from California to Florida. In February 2018, Allegiant also announced that a new base would be established at the Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport. In June 2018, Allegiant added another base at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee. In January 2019, Allegiant announced that it would be adding another base at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Allegiant announced that they would be adding an additional base at Des Moines International Airport in Des Moines, Iowa by November 2019.
2020s
On February 12, 2021, Allegiant launched flights to John Wayne Airport with 8 initial destinations including Boise, Grand Junction, Las Vegas, Medford, Missoula, Provo, Reno/Tahoe, and Spokane.
On August 10, 2021, Allegiant announced that they would be opening 2 more operating bases at Appleton International Airport and Bishop International Airport beginning March 2022.
On October 7, 2021, Allegiant began serving non-stop flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Asheville, North Carolina, and Palm Beach in Florida. They would later serve 5 more, including Punta Gorda, Florida, Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Phoenix Mesa, Arizona. They serve all of these routes using Airbus 320's. The same year it entered into an joint venture with Viva Aerobus to expand routes between the United States and Mexico.
