In a tough market, Allegiant Air thrives
A Toledo airport official said Allegiant customer comments there are 'nothing but positive.'
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
Allegiant Air, coming May 19 to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, operates successfully in a tough market.
The company is making money, said Tyri Squyres, Allegiant's director of corporate communications.
Squyres said recently that unlike the airline industry as a whole, Allegiant is profitable.
"We're growing. In fact, last year, we opened over 30 new routes, tripling the size of our company. The year before that we doubled the size. As a company we're doing very well," she said.
"Because we are a young company, we have the advantage to keep our costs very low," she said, explaining how Allegiant has been able to withstand the high fuel prices and higher costs associated with the industry since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The company was founded in 1997.
"We don't have some of the infrastructure of some of the larger legacy carriers," she said, referring to larger carriers with many planes and higher personnel costs.
Another way the company competes is to be "very proactive in managing where we fly," she said, explaining that if ridership levels fall below a certain point, certain flights will be eliminated. Likewise, Allegiant will add flights where necessary.
As for whether that could lead to service also being discontinued without much notice, Squyres said Allegiant fulfills its commitment to communities.
Company finances
Department of Transportation data show that Allegiant had a net income of $4.5 million on revenues of $99.7 million through the first nine months of 2005, USA Today has reported.
Citing a recent rating by Dun and Bradstreet showing Allegiant's financial rating on the rise, Steve Bowser, director of aviation at the airport, called Allegiant a "very solid, solid company."
Dun and Bradstreet reported recently that Allegiant's Financial Stress Class improved as of Feb. 6 from average risk to lower-than-average risk. Dun and Bradstreet is the leading provider of business information for credit marketing and purchasing decisions worldwide.
Bowser said the Western Reserve Port Authority, which oversees operations at the Vienna Township airport, does not have a contract with Allegiant. It does have an "arrangement right now to where we're very comfortable."
Bowser said this arrangement gives Allegiant marketing help, while Allegiant carries the "heaviest burden, which is the aircraft and the air infrastructure to make it all happen."
Finding industry analysis of Allegiant is difficult. However, statistics are available on Allegiant's success in providing timely and reliable service and its history with the Better Business Bureau.
On-time performance
A carrier arrival performance report from Flightstats.com said Allegiant was on time 71 percent of the time during the analysis period in 2005. That put Allegiant at No. 17 on a list of 41 scheduled passenger airlines listed.
The report also indicated only two flights were canceled out of 1,084 during the period, something Squyres mentioned during a news conference this month. "We don't just cancel a flight, which is also very unusual" in the industry, she said. "Really, by the way we're structured, we can't just cancel a flight. So we're committed to those flights that we have on the books."
Bowser said recent years have been turbulent for the airline industry, and even low-cost airlines have struggled.
Last month, Independence Air announced it was shutting down after 19 months in business. Independence Air had filed for bankruptcy in November, saying it would ask a bankruptcy court to give refunds to customers who still held tickets.
In Toledo, TransMeridian Airlines abruptly halted service in late September because of skyrocketing jet fuel prices, the Toledo Blade reported. Coincidentally, that was the beginning of the Toledo Express Airport's relationship with Allegiant.
Allegiant made friends by providing a ride back from Florida to TransMeridian customers who were stranded by TransMeridian's shutdown.
Brian Schwartz, public affairs director at the Toledo Express Airport, said Allegiant stepped right in and provided flights for a couple of days from Orlando-Sanford to Lansing, Mich., which is about 90 minutes by car from Toledo. The passengers then found various other ways back to Toledo from Lansing, he said.
"Allegiant was a savior for people stranded in Orlando," Schwartz said.
Toledo service
That situation arose just a few days before Allegiant was prepared to announce service in Toledo. The airline began regularly scheduled flights there in mid-December and has been doing very well in that market since then, Schwartz said.
Allegiant flew 8,003 passengers during January on flights to Orlando-Sanford six times per week and Las Vegas four times per week, Schwartz said. The planes were 75 percent full, he said.
"In my personal experience, the feedback has been nothing but positive, especially with the experience with what happened with TransMeridian," Schwartz said of Allegiant's first two months of service there.
A check of the Better Business Bureau of Toledo did not turn up any complaints against Allegiant. The Web site for the BBB of Las Vegas did indicate 17 complaints about the company over the past 36 months, 13 of them in the past year.
Allegiant, based in Las Vegas, provides nonstop flights to the city from 32 U.S. markets and to the Orlando-Sanford airport from 13 markets. Allegiant's flights to Orlando-Sanford use a secondary airport in the City of Sanford, 18 miles northeast of Orlando.
Allegiant's fleet includes 21 MD-80 series jet aircraft with leather seats and overhead luggage bins. Squyres said Allegiant "has some of the friendliest crews you'll meet."
Airport authorities have also noted that flying at the local airport is just as safe as at big airports, has lower parking fees, and will save customers time. Although standard requests of airlines is for customers to arrive 90 minutes before a flight, "Frankly, you could probably come in here in about 45 minutes," Bowser said.