Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air (biasanya disingkat menjadi Allegiant) adalah Maskapai penerbangan bertarif rendah asal Amerika yang mengoperasikan penerbangan terjadwal dan charter. Maskapai ini adalah maskapai udara utama dan maskapai komersial terbesar keempat belas di Amerika Utara.

Allegiant didirikan pada tahun 1997 dan dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh Allegiant Travel Company, sebuah perusahaan publik dengan 4.000 karyawan dan kapitalisasi pasar lebih dari US$2,6 miliar . Kantor pusat perusahaan berada di Summerlin, Nevada, pinggiran kota Las Vegas.

Urusan perusahaan

Kepemilikan dan struktur
Allegiant Air adalah anak perusahaan yang sepenuhnya dimiliki oleh perusahaan Allegiant Travel Company, yang diperdagangkan secara publik di bawah NASDAQ: ALGT. Allegiant Travel Company juga merupakan perusahaan induk dari Allegiant Vacations.

Tren bisnis
Tren utama untuk Allegiant Travel Company (termasuk anak perusahaan yang dikonsolidasikan) adalah (tahun yang berakhir pada Desember 31):

Kantor Pusat 
Kantor pusat perusahaan berada di Nevada, komunitas master-planned di pinggiran kota Las Vegas, Nevada.

Model bisnis
Allegiant bertujuan terutama untuk melayani pelancong yang berekreasi, terutama negara yang berada di iklim utara yang lebih dingin, pergi ke tujuan wisata cuaca hangat seperti Punta Gorda, Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Orlando, Los Angeles, dan Phoenix. Allegiant juga melayani tujuan yang lebih kecil yang memiliki sedikit penerbangan langsung oleh maskapai besar. Banyak pasar maskapai, seperti Peoria, Illinois, hanya dilayani oleh layanan komuter yang memerlukan koneksi di hub maskapai. Allegiant cenderung menerbangi rute yang menghindari persaingan dengan maskapai lain, dengan hanya 18% dari 518 rutenya per awal 2020 yang juga diterbangkan nonstop oleh maskapai lain.

Untuk menjaga harga tiket relatif rendah, Allegiant menawarkan frekuensi penerbangan yang lebih rendah dan tidak ada fasilitas di dalam pesawat seperti minuman ringan atau hiburan gratis. Itu juga tidak menawarkan layanan penghubung apa pun, dengan pelanggan hanya dapat membeli rencana perjalanan tanpa henti di situs webnya.

Ia lebih suka menggunakan bandara sekunder yang lebih kecil ketika fasilitas tersebut mengenakan biaya yang lebih kecil, seperti Bandara Internasional Orlando Sanford dan Bandara Gerbang Phoenix-Mesa, di mana Allegiant sekarang menjadi satu-satunya maskapai komersial dengan layanan sepanjang tahun. Namun, sejak 2015, Allegiant telah berkembang di bandara-bandara besar, seperti Cincinnati, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, Newark, Raleigh–Durham, dan San Antonio.

Allegiant terbang ke banyak bandara tujuan liburan utama, termasuk Las Vegas dan Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood.

Pada Juni 2013, Allegiant menyimpang dari strategi ini dengan rencana untuk bersaing dengan Southwest Airlines dengan menawarkan penerbangan langsung antara Las Vegas dan Austin, hub berukuran sedang yang dilayani oleh 10 maskapai penerbangan dengan rute non-stop ke lebih dari 40 tujuan. Maskapai ini juga terbang lebih jarang dibandingkan dengan maskapai besar, mengoperasikan rute dua atau tiga kali per minggu. Itu membutuhkan lebih sedikit awak dan memungkinkan perawatan pesawat yang tidak membutuhkan banyak waktu.

Meskipun tidak terbang ke Kanada, Allegiant beriklan di negara tersebut dan terbang dari sekitar selusin bandara kecil di dekat Kanada–AS. berbatasan. Banyak pelanggannya di bandara seperti Bellingham, Washington (BLI) dan Plattsburgh, New York (PBG) adalah orang Kanada, yang menghemat uang untuk tiket pesawat dengan melintasi perbatasan ke AS dan menerbangi rute domestik dari bandara AS.

Pada Februari 2011, Allegiant mengusulkan untuk menjual dua jenis tiket kepada penumpang: tiket di muka dengan tarif tetap yang lebih tinggi dan tiket waktu keberangkatan dengan harga lebih rendah tetapi dengan biaya tambahan berdasarkan harga bahan bakar penerbangan.. Pada tahun 2012, AS. Departemen Perhubungan melarang praktik tersebut sebagai bagian dari peraturan yang lebih luas yang juga mewajibkan pajak dan biaya untuk dimasukkan dalam tiket pesawat. Allegiant, bersama dengan Spirit Airlines dan Southwest Airlines, menggugat USDOT untuk membatalkan aturan baru ini. Pengadilan Banding Amerika Serikat untuk Distrik Sirkuit Columbia memutuskan mendukung USDOT pada 24 Juli 2012 dan Mahkamah Agung AS menolak certiorari pada 1 April 2013.

Ancillary revenue
Like Ryanair, the low-cost airline founded by the Ryan family of Ireland, who also have invested in Allegiant, the airline seeks ancillary revenue to supplement ticket revenue.
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. 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."

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. Commissions on hotel and rental car packages are up to one-third of the airline's revenue.

In 2009, ancillary revenues were $33.35 per passenger.

Charter flights
Allegiant's air charter operation contributed 7% of its revenue in 2009.

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. Allegiant based one 150-seat, MD-80 series jet aircraft in Wendover and more than 20 employees, including maintenance, flight crews and station personnel.

Allegiant also transports firefighters for the United States Forest Service as well as college basketball teams. 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. 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.

The company had charter contracts with Caesars Entertainment to ferry customers to Caesars casino properties through Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport and Tunica Municipal Airport. These contracts ended in December 2012 when Caesars Entertainment signed a new contract with Republic Airways to provide the charter service to Caesars properties in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Tunica, Mississippi, and Laughlin, Nevada.

Sponsorships 
In July 2018, Allegiant became the official airline of Minor League Baseball (MiLB). In September of the same year, Allegiant partnered with the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights as the "Official Domestic Airline Partner". On June 3, 2019, soccer club FC Cincinnati announced that they had entered a multiple-year agreement with Allegiant making them the club's official airline partner. The agreement includes club and stadium assets, game-day experience and more. Allegiant also offers its popular Fan Flyaway Program to FCC fans. FCC's TQL Stadium also has an entry gate named after the airline. On August 5, 2019, Allegiant inked a 20-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) for the naming rights to the team's new home, Allegiant Stadium, in Paradise, Nevada. Allegiant is also a main sponsor with GMS Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. In January 2020, Allegiant became the official airline of the Indianapolis Colts.

Costs
Part of the airline's business model includes the purchase of jets second hand or at steep discounts. While used aircraft are less fuel-efficient than newer planes, Allegiant reported that it purchased and refurbished McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets for as little as $4 million, one-tenth the cost compared to a new Boeing 737.

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 versus 13 hours per day at JetBlue Airways), which helps keep labor costs lower. Allegiant schedules their crew members so that they typically return to their domicile at the end of the day, avoiding the expense of hotel rooms.

The airline also seeks to maintain a low operating cost at airports. For example, Allegiant rents ticket counters on an hourly basis and in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Springfield, Missouri, many duties are handled by airport employees contracted to Allegiant.

Allegiant maintains control over pricing by offering flights exclusively through its website, which also sells ancillary products. It has no toll-free phone number and does sell tickets through internet travel agencies.

Branding
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.

Controversy

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. In August 2012, the pilots voted to organize and joined the Teamsters. 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."

Safety concerns over former MD-80 fleet

Allegiant Air has been closely monitored by the FAA due to many 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." A survey found that 46 of the company's 86 aircraft had made emergency landings, all of which involved MD-80s. The average age of Allegiant's MD-80 fleet was 29 years, compared to less than 13 years for its Airbus fleet.  all of its MD-80s have been replaced by newer Airbus A320 family aircraft.

In May 2016, the FAA confirmed they moved up a regularly scheduled five-year inspection. Allegiant Air proclaims the FAA gave them a clean bill of health after the 2016 audit.

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, and a 60 Minutes report by CBS News in 2018 continued to investigate the issues. 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." 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. 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, and also defended its safety record, citing the 2016 FAA audit, which found the company's safety issues "minor" and "non-systemic."