QuoteAllegiant is heading to Jacksonville International Airport, offering non-stop flights from Jacksonville to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh early next year.
The flights will begin in spring of 2015, with twice-weekly flights to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh debuting Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, 2015.
Jacksonville is Allegiant's sixth destination in Florida, after Orlando, Palm Beach, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach. The airline decided to come to Jacksonville after realizing the markets between Jacksonville and Cincinnati and Pittsburgh were underserved.
"We're always looking for new markets and we saw a lot of demand here," Thyne Klinger, the manager of airforce at Allegiant, told the Business Journal.
Allegiant, based in Las Vegas, currently offers flights to 90 destinations in the U.S. Klinger saw a warm reception to debuting in Jacksonville and says Allegiant hopes to expand even more in the coming years.
"We'll see how these first flights go. They have to be profitable," Klinger said.
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/11/12/allegiant-landing-in-jacksonville.html
Cool. I have Allegiant stock. Got into them early a few years ago. Everyone go purchase tickets!
I am flying Allegiant out of their Sanford Hub next week.
They are a 100% contract airline. They rely entirely on local airport staff for gate work.
The pilots are not ALPA/airline aligned but independent contractors.
The flight attendants are also independent as well and mostly do charters out of Miami through a firm called Miami International.
They use a la carte pricing. Your seat is a cost. Luggage is additional. Reserved seating is additional.
We have had problems with reserved seating because the gate agents are not airline employees they have troubles translating Allegiants unusual boarding rules.
Also Allegiant has had some newsworthy events that contracting staff made worse.
They had a flight diverted from Springfield MO to Tulsa OK due to weather. Attendents didnt know and announced a bubbly landing in Springfield. Passengers get off and there is no gate staff. Why? Turn on cell phones and clearly see they arent in Springfield. Tulsa Airport was closed. No one to get luggage. The pilots? They finished their work, they shut down the plane, deboarded and left.
People start calling Allegiant, call center is closed. People start ranking on Flight Attendants, who then call their managers back in Miami. They are contractors, they cant reach anyone at Allegiant either.
So they all sit in a dark airport lobby with no luggage and no airline.
Finally, someone gets ahold of Allegiant and they charter a bus for the passengers but they have to wait for airport staff to come to work to pull the luggage down.
Granted, this is an extraordinary event and not common but is what should be expected when working with a contract airline.
This is why the fares are so cheap.
They are not a "common" carrier like Delta, United, etc. They are a "scheduled charter" carrier therefore the contract of carriage and federal rules on their operations is a little bit different.
Oh boy! Another flying cattle car at JIA! Shades of 'People Express,' LOL.
Direct flights to Pittsburgh? That's great to hear. Increasing capacity for the airport is always a good thing, and I really like Pittsburgh so it's a nice place to have a direct connection to.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 12, 2014, 11:29:35 AM
Cool. I have Allegiant stock. Got into them early a few years ago. Everyone go purchase tickets!
I guess you didnt listen to Warren Buffet then. Stay away from airlines stock!!
Haha. I purchased it back in 2012. It's more than doubled since then, so I'm playing with house money at this point.
It appear that Jax isn't the only benefactor of Allegiant.
Allegiant Air adds Pittsburgh, other large destination cities at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport
Allegiant Air continues to grow its dominating presence at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) — announcing Wednesday that it added 14 new routes and five new cities. That brings Allegiant's nonstop destinations out of PIE to 40. Several of the added markets are larger than per usual at PIE. Most of the new flights begin in February 2015.
They are:
Pittsburgh (begins Feb. 11)
Indianapolis (Feb. 12)
Richmond, Va. (Feb. 13)
Hagerstown, Md. (Feb. 27)
Omaha, Neb. (March 5)
Allegiant accounts for about 95 percent of the PIE's traffic, which has consistently broken monthly passenger records in 2014. The low-fare carrier began operations at the Pinellas airport in 2006 with 12 destinations. Several routes were added this year — in July it was 32 — and none were dropped.
Allegiant's PIE expansion into larger markets started with Cincinnati earlier this year. Michele Routh, the airport's public relations director, pointed out that when Allegiant reaches 40 next year, it will have the most nonstop destinations of any carrier operating in Tampa Bay, besting Southwest, which runs out of Tampa International Airport.
Allegiant's expansion is driven to a large extent by Pinellas County's tourism boom. "It's a symbiotic relationship," Routh said. "The airline is helping drive the county's record-breaking tourism numbers, and Allegiant's is growing along with tourist growth."
Routh added that Allegiant is the largest group hotel booker in Pinellas County.
At PIE, Allegiant largely acts as a leisure airline. It offers nonstops only on select days, which is more in line with tourist than business travel. About 65 percent of Allegiant's PIE passengers coming to Tampa Bay as a destination, while the remainder are outbound local residents.
When is the day going to come when JIA can support direct flights to either LAX or SFO? There are too many reasons to have a direct connection:
1) 2nd and 5th most populated metropolitan areas in the country
2) 2nd and 3rd largest GDPs by metropolitan area in the country
3) 1st and 2nd largest Asian gateways to America (and connections at both to basically every Asian/Australian market)
3a) Not to mention flights to Hawaii/AK, quick and easy to Vegas
4) Major airline hubs
Delta hub (LAX, SFO for international only)
United hub (SFO)
American hub (LAX)
Southwest hub (Oakland and John Wayne)
Virgin hub (SFO is the hub)
5) Tourist destinations (Top 5 and Top 10 US domestic destinations, #3 and #5 international destination in US)
5a) Not to mention flights to Hawaii/AK, quick and easy to Vegas
6) Connection to global tech (SF.SJ) and entertainment/media (LA) hubs, as well as a top world financial center (SF)
I just realized, most people I know are able to fly direct to meet me. Except for people in Jax...it's not the only airport to neglect the CA market, but there are few airports that do, certainly few airports serving 1 million + metros.
Who's with me? Why isn't there a direct connection? I would think it's bad for business not to have one.
Delta had a direct to LAX, but canned it. I never took it, but it was always on their last minute deal emails; which translates to "this plane is empty". They just couldn't get critical mass on this one (despite a lot of advertising). They used a 737 for the flight, which I want to say was the smallest plane they own that can make that flight at the time.
^^^It's kind of odd they couldn't fill a single daily 737 to LAX...do not that many people fly between Jax and the W Coast? I fly a considerable amount between various cities and rarely have a flight that doesn't have the precursory "Folks we're on a full flight today, please check your bags at the gate, etc".
That being said, I just booked a flight to Jax, but will fly into MCO and rent a car to come up. It was hundreds cheaper to do it that way and it was still ~$800 round trip (for the flight times I need - Saturday wedding, can't take that Friday off).
Last time I flew between NYC and JIA I was on an Embraer tiny jet. I was actually kind of taken aback that an ERJ was what was making the trips between Jax and the largest market/international gateway in the western hemisphere a mere 2 hours away. Figured it would have at least been a 757 or something somewhat sizable.
Why would you go to the west coast if you could avoid it? New York's on this side. ;)
Quote from: simms3 on November 13, 2014, 12:18:28 AM
^^^It's kind of odd they couldn't fill a single daily 737 to LAX...do not that many people fly between Jax and the W Coast? I fly a considerable amount between various cities and rarely have a flight that doesn't have the precursory "Folks we're on a full flight today, please check your bags at the gate, etc".
That being said, I just booked a flight to Jax, but will fly into MCO and rent a car to come up. It was hundreds cheaper to do it that way and it was still ~$800 round trip (for the flight times I need - Saturday wedding, can't take that Friday off).
Last time I flew between NYC and JIA I was on an Embraer tiny jet. I was actually kind of taken aback that an ERJ was what was making the trips between Jax and the largest market/international gateway in the western hemisphere a mere 2 hours away. Figured it would have at least been a 757 or something somewhat sizable.
Re: NYC, I fly that route (both LGA and JFK) about 1-2 dozen times per year (wife is from there, in-laws live there). Never once been on a ERJ. That's really odd. How long ago was this?
Re: LAX, you'd take that route because you want to visit LAX, nothing more. JAX is too well positioned for flights to the Far East. Literally one-stop jumps via either ATL, NYC, or DTW. Why reposition to LAX? Not a single flight out of LAX you can't get out of ATL/NYC/DTW.
That's my .02 cents on why that failed.
IMO, if that flight were to SFO, or even San Diego, that flight would still be in business. Enough interest there beyond repositioning to the Far East.
^^^Fair points.
I've flown an ERJ or Bombardier equivalent to/from Kennedy to JIA on multiple occasions. I stick with Delta, though I know it's more of a regular sized jet with Jetblue. I've flown United (then Continental) to Newark, and I recall that being a normal sized plane.
For some reason, despite Delta operating hubs out of both JFK and LGA, the flights to either are on regionals (to New York!).
My question to you would be: why would there be more interest to SF or SD than LA? At least two of those cities are large enough where you would think there's at least enough business/tourist interest in either, even from a smaller market such as Jax.
ATL and DTW are Delta only. JFK at least offers more airline variety and far more destinations to any given continent.
I think a lack of direct connections hurts business. NOBODY wants to connect. NOBODY wants regional jets if they can help it either.
Yes, I am glad to hear this.. :P
Quote from: simms3 on November 13, 2014, 03:36:46 AM
^^^Fair points.
I've flown an ERJ or Bombardier equivalent to/from Kennedy to JIA on multiple occasions. I stick with Delta, though I know it's more of a regular sized jet with Jetblue. I've flown United (then Continental) to Newark, and I recall that being a normal sized plane.
For some reason, despite Delta operating hubs out of both JFK and LGA, the flights to either are on regionals (to New York!).
My question to you would be: why would there be more interest to SF or SD than LA? At least two of those cities are large enough where you would think there's at least enough business/tourist interest in either, even from a smaller market such as Jax.
ATL and DTW are Delta only. JFK at least offers more airline variety and far more destinations to any given continent.
I think a lack of direct connections hurts business. NOBODY wants to connect. NOBODY wants regional jets if they can help it either.
I think a San Diego flight would do well because of the Navy connection. There are a lot of SD transplants in JAX and vice versa. People want to fly home, or to their old home, to visit family and friends.
As for SFO, just a ballpark guess - no data to affirm this whatsoever - thinking there would be more interest there than LAX.
I just don't hear LAX mentioned - ever - as a desirable destination. At least with people I hang out with. I know about a dozen people who've gone to SFO this year. I know nobody whose gone to LAX.
We can agree on one thing: connections suck, and so do RJs.
Re RJs: haven't been on one in EONS, except for JAX to MIA flights.
Re: connections - again, JAX is well positioned considering it's size (or lack thereof). I've been to Beijing and Tokyo - both on one stop connecters in DTW.
Flying JFK to Hong Kong in April - another one stop connector. Ditto Abu Dhabi.
Delta's service to NY (both LGA and JFK) is 100% RJ's. In fact, Delta has a lot of regionals at both airports there. LGA is generally flight length restricted, so it makes a lot of sense there. JFK will be done with a new extension of Terminal 4 exclusively for Delta RJs in the spring (LONG overdue).
As far as the JAX-LAX flight, I think some of it had to do with flight times, and therein lies the issue-you're not going to come up with one time that everyone loves, and you don't have enough people to have two flights.
The only one of JAX's Delta destinations that is 1x daily is JFK, and that flight is coordinated to line up with JFK'd international connections. Any one who travels to NYC a lot will almost always choose LGA, unless they are going to southern Queens or Brooklyn.
Still waiting on a JAX ==> London flight. I was hoping that there might be a little more yield all around given the business relationships that the city has been trying to foster (with the Jags/Fulham, etc.).
Quote from: blizz01 on November 13, 2014, 10:13:47 AM
Still waiting on a JAX ==> London flight. I was hoping that there might be a little more yield all around given the business relationships that the city has been trying to foster (with the Jags/Fulham, etc.).
You're going to have to wait a long while for that one. Without a West Coast flight, I wouldn't count on a European flight for at least a decade or more. Since JIA lacks any support as a hub, it is purely an end destination point. Given the lower MSA population, we're going to need to raise the MSA population by at least a million or bring in a lot more regular tourist/ business traffic.
Lack of direct flights absolutely kills business growth in the city. Many companies will not expand to cities that do not have direct flights to major cities or at least their own headquarters.
I look forward to Jax hopefully supporting a LAX flight again (maybe SFO.) We may see Sky Harbor (US Air) or Salt Lake (Delta) as a reasonable hub options for West coast destinations if LAX landing fees are just too expensive to support.
It's gonna take awhile, yes, but Jax-London is pretty decent. In 2011 we were at nearly 17k annual travelers and surely it's increased since then. Here are Jax's top 10 international O/Ds from 2011. We beat out a few of our peers like Buffalo and OK City quite significantly.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/aviation
International metro area (origin/destination) Global region 2003 passenger total 2011 passenger total Change, 2003–2011
1. Toronto, Canada North America 16,566 18,609 +12.3%
2. London, United Kingdom Western Europe 17,514 16,972 -3.1%
3. Montreal, Canada North America 8,432 7,696 -8.7%
4. Manila, Philippines Developing Asia-Pacific 5,783 7,646 +32.2%
5. Frankfurt am Main, Germany Western Europe 10,695 6,577 -38.5%
6. Paris, France Western Europe 7,301 6,305 -13.6%
7. Vancouver, Canada North America 6,890 5,561 -19.3%
8. Rome, Italy Western Europe 4,069 5,330 +31.0%
9. Cancun, Mexico Latin America/Caribbean 6,224 5,117 -17.8%
10. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, Netherlands Western Europe 5,080 4,954 -2.5%
I actually could see a scenario where we get a Europe flight before a west coast flight, and the reason is customer options. From let's say ATL, there's 5-6 options to LAX that day, yet even from there, there is only 1-2 to LHR, so people are used to working around the airline on a transatlantic.
I think the biggest hurdles there might be geography. The US carrier most likely add that flight would be Delta (they might route the flight to CDG instead as that's a DL hub), but from here, the smallest plane to make the trip is either a 767 or A330, which is a tough plane to fill here. Plus, they fly nearly hourly to ATL, and fill larger planes on that route so that has to be pretty economical for them.
meanwhile Tampa International Airport announced today direct flights to/from Frankfurt (Germany)
If we did get a European flight before West Coast, where do you all think it would be? Perhaps even Frankfurt with the Deutsche Bank connection? I know a few people at DB and they fly to FRA frequently. Its also the third busiest airport in Europe, and gateway to the US military bases in Germany. Not to mention more centrally located and accessible to the rest of Europe than London or Paris. Germany has the best national railway in Europe, so its perfect to fly into and connect to another destination via train.
Beat me by a minute TUFSU. If Tampa can pull that off so should we. Though, I guess there is kind of a large non-native German population in SW Florida.
^Tampa's market is at least twice the size of ours and that's not even counting the decent sized places around it, like Lakeland, Sarasota, etc.
Does Tampa have any major employers with HQ in Frankfurt though? Or the military ties that we do? My dad used to fly 3+times a year from Jax to Frankfurt (via connections) to visit Army bases around Germany. Lots of other civilian contractors or military support from Jax do as well I believe.
Tampa no doubt has a greater population, I just wonder if we can pull it off too with some of our ties. Maybe that's just the dreamer in me that would prefer to fly into the continent rather than London.
If I'm not mistaken, we had an Air Canada flight to Toronto Pearson several years ago and it didn't last. If that's our top international destination, then I would be weary about our ability to attract a Trans-Atlantic flight in the near future.
Even with the 18,000 annual passengers mentioned above, let's say Air Canada flies a 100 person regional jet to Toronto six days a week. That's 600 origination passengers a week or 31,200 passengers a year. A Transatlantic flight would need about 100,000 passengers to fill the flight. I guess that is why hub and spoke still works so well for international flights. It's much easier to fill the plane when they fill it with passengers from multiple cities.
JIA currently averages about 5.3 million total passengers a year (roughly 2.15 million enplanements) or about 5,900 origination passengers a day. There just aren't enough people to consistently fill the planes needed for more direct flights.
I really wish the City could convince Mayport to allow larger (and more) Cruise ships. I am sure an extra 3,000 or so passengers a week coming into town could do wonders for attracting and sustaining more flights.
The Delta JAX/LAX started with a 757 at the beginning. Moved down to lesser seat 737 when they couldnt get the volumes.
I agree that if the Deutsch presence grows in Jax you might see a US Airways non stop since they already service Frankfort and JIA extensively. Lufthansa will never come to JIA direct. They would rather code share through Atlanta. We would be more likely to get a discounter like Air Berlin, which is Eurozone only today.
JAX just doesnt generate the volumes in large enough repetition to support foreign non stops. The best they can hope for is if a non code share airline decides to use JIA as a hub gateway to the US to avoid NYC and ATL pattern and gate congestion.
Personally all my international flights have routed through Atlanta for Europe and Africa, Dallas for Asia since I moved here.
When I lived in Chicago, I had my pick of the litter. It was a great luxury to have.
For me the worse city to fly to/from Jax was Salt Lake City. If you didnt catch that 2pm MT flight, you were screwed. Especially tough with restrictive corporate hotel standards.
Quote from: CityLife on November 13, 2014, 05:17:31 PM
Does Tampa have any major employers with HQ in Frankfurt though? Or the military ties that we do? My dad used to fly 3+times a year from Jax to Frankfurt (via connections) to visit Army bases around Germany. Lots of other civilian contractors or military support from Jax do as well I believe.
Tampa no doubt has a greater population, I just wonder if we can pull it off too with some of our ties. Maybe that's just the dreamer in me that would prefer to fly into the continent rather than London.
Maybe they have more of a connection that we give them credit for:
QuoteGermany has the third-largest number of foreign-owned businesses (66) in Tampa Bay, about 16% of the Tampa Bay Foreign Owned Companies. German companies employ 22,000 people in Florida (5).
In 2012, the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern United States chose Tampa as the chapter's headquarters. The chapter will promote and support bilateral trade between Germany and the State of Florida (6).
https://www.tampachamber.com/Trade-Council/International-Trade/Export-Companies/Germany.aspx
Quote from: chipwich on November 13, 2014, 05:28:10 PM
If I'm not mistaken, we had an Air Canada flight to Toronto Pearson several years ago and it didn't last. If that's our top international destination, then I would be weary about our ability to attract a Trans-Atlantic flight in the near future.
Even with the 18,000 annual passengers mentioned above, let's say Air Canada flies a 100 person regional jet to Toronto six days a week. That's 600 origination passengers a week or 31,200 passengers a year. A Transatlantic flight would need about 100,000 passengers to fill the flight. I guess that is why hub and spoke still works so well for international flights. It's much easier to fill the plane when they fill it with passengers from multiple cities.
Toronto direct flights were over a decade ago. It's a gateway for most people flying to Canada from the US. http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041201/bus_5891247.html
If Air Canada wants to return to JAX the current numbers are a bit better for not just Toronto but other Canadian final destinations...approximately 43k showing up for Canada in 2011. And if there's a direct flight option then perhaps more Torontonians would visit Jax...perhaps cruisers. ;)
Several plane loads of people make the JAX-LAX trip daily, they did it back in the late 70's and early 80's too, before National was eaten by Pan Am and gutted for it's aircraft, before Eastern's wings were clipped and when Southern and Piedmont were in expansion mode... Today even more people make those trips... they drive to Orlando and fly from there since the critical mass allows Orlando to frequently offer such seats at an amazing discount. 'THANK MICKEY!'
http://www.youtube.com/v/cpaaCvljl-o?hl=en_US
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7491/15599123790_9fd73c2548_o.png)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7483/15163950314_f962be1ede_o.png)
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Imeson Airport Terminal
Ock is correct. The problem for LAX and international flights for JAX is Orlando and ATL. Too close with too many flights.
If I'm not mistaken, Memphis could hardly justify their int'l flights, even as a Delta hub. Ditto Cincinnati.
I wouldn't expect int'l flights for JAX for at least a few decades :-\
Also worth noting TPA - FRA flights are operated on Lufthansa's budget-styled planes - "JUMP" - and those flights are only 5 days a week. There is a lot of insecurity on whether they can keep that flight - and the damn thing hasn't even started (I speak as someone who reads frequent flyer blogs 4x a day!)
I just finished an Allegiant Air flight last night from Sanford to St Louis MidAmerica. (Belleville IL).
For starts, original itinerary was to depart Sanford at 2:45ET. We didnt get wheels up at Sanford until 11pm. Scheduled arrival in St Louis was around 4:15 CT. Actual arrival was 11:45PM CT.
Issue? Lightning struck one of their new Airbus A320 when it landed at Sanford. FAA rules require a struck plane to go out of service for inspection.
It has to be another A320. Not being a common carrier, they have to locate another A320 in their network. One is found but it cant get to Sanford due to weather. So we have to wait for the next one. Finally one comes in from Niagra Falls NY.
Even though Allegiant has 3 MD-80's on the tarmac, this flight was booked using the economy version of the A320. Not enough seats on the MD80.
This version of the A320 is similar to European discount carriers except it has bathrooms. Single class, no frills plane. Even the seats were no frills with only padding for your bottom and leatherette on the seat frame. No seat pockets and food tray is 60% of what most are used today.
As Ock said, this plane is essentially a bus.
Now if you think we had it bad, think of those 230 people sitting at St Louis MidAmerica? Its a 2 gate airport next to Scott AirForce base and has zero amenities, none. They sat for over 8 hours with no other choices. (They got to Sanford on the return flight at 3:30AM ET)
To Allegiant's credit they gave the Sanford passengers a $50 credit towards their next flight and a 8 dollar food voucher. Good at the 3 food choices at Sanford.
The local Enterprise affiliate at MidAmerica (10 miles away) brought out the rentals and waited the 8 hours until the only flight of the day arrived.
Why not public transporation? Well i seriously looked at taking Metro into the city once my flight arrived. Its a shuttle bus from the terminal to the Scott AFB station. However no shuttles running at midnight.
State of Illinois is planning to extend Metro out to MidAmerica airport, but the airlines that go there keep going under so they delay it.
Perhaps if Allegiant sticks and one more airline comes in, they will find the dough to extend it.
Discount carriers are definitely a new experience!
wow, spuwho! Thanks for sharing the experience and sorry for the inconvenience. This sounds a lot like the stories I've heard about AirAsia and other discount asian airlines. Knock on wood, but in the four flights I've taken with AirAsia, and about a dozen with the other LCCs there, not one issue at all. Therefore I will still consider Allegiant if it seems like this is the exception and not the rule.
I've been lucky with the discount carries so far. All have arrived and left on time. But I treat my flights just like the bus. I don't need frills, entertainment, food, drinks or extra leg room. I also don't care where I sit or when I board. You can charge me for luggage because I'm going to squeeze everything in a backpack and carry on (if I really need it) anyway. Just get me to my destination as fast and cheap as possible.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 26, 2014, 01:18:28 PM
I've been lucky with the discount carries so far. All have arrived and left on time. But I treat my flights just like the bus. I don't need frills, entertainment, food, drinks or extra leg room. I also don't care where I sit or when I board. You can charge me for luggage because I'm going to squeeze everything in a backpack and carry on (if I really need it) anyway. Just get me to my destination as fast and cheap as possible.
For domestic travel, whether that's in the US or abroad, I'd agree with this.
International travel is another story.
Yes, for domestic travel. I've never used a discount carrier for international travel, so I'm not familiar.
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Hey! It was cheap!
For the most part I agree with you Lake, but if I landed at midnight instead of 4pm I'd be quite upset.
Yeah. However that's only happened to me with TWA, Delta, Continental and US Air.
City notes: Allegiant Air to offer nonstop to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh from JIA
Full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544864
Those darn pilots....they are disrupting Allegiant's expansion plans. The pains of making the transition from a contract carrier to retail.
Per Bloomberg Business:
Allegiant Pilot Strike Blocked by Court Order on Eve of Walkout
Allegiant Travel Co.'s airline won a court order blocking a pilots' strike, thwarting what would have been the first walkout at a major U.S. carrier in almost five years.
The decision was issued in federal court in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Members of Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 had planned to strike Thursday, saying Allegiant Airlines hasn't complied with a court decision to reverse a scheduling system change and restore other benefits.
"Allegiant has every reason to believe that the Teamsters will honor the court's instructions and will not be able to continue with their illegal intention to strike," the airline said in a statement. All scheduled flights will operate normally, Allegiant said.
The union had estimated that a walkout would ground 250 flights and affect 33,000 customers daily, while Allegiant had said a strike would cost millions of dollars a day, scare off customers and disrupt travel on the Easter holiday weekend.
BerlinRosen Public Affairs, a firm representing the pilots, had no immediate comment on the judge's order.
Earlier Thursday, Allegiant fell 6.6 percent to $179.65 in New York, its biggest one-day decline since July. The shares extended an earlier decline after pilots threatened to strike.
Allegiant said in its complaint that the walkout is illegal because the union and the Las Vegas-based airline haven't exhausted procedures to resolve their conflict. The dispute came to a head after more than two years of failed contract talks between the union and airline.
Union's Claim
Pilots claim the new scheduling system forces some to be routed away from home for extended periods and leads to exhaustion. A federal court in Las Vegas previously found the change altered the status quo, in violation of the law governing negotiations, and ordered Allegiant to revert to the prior system, the union said.
The last pilot strike at a large U.S. carrier occurred when pilots at Spirit Airlines Inc. walked off the job for five days in June 2010. Before that, the last work stoppage at a major U.S. airline operating on a regular schedule involved Northwest Airlines Corp. mechanics in 2005.
The federal Railway Labor Act, which governs airline unions, prohibits strikes during contract talks without authority from the National Mediation Board. That body hasn't ruled on the union's request at this time and has directed both sides to return to the bargaining table.
Allegiant is a low-cost carrier that primarily carries travelers from smaller cities to leisure destinations like Las Vegas and a number of cities in Florida.
Hmmmm, no wonder my Allegiant stock took a hit today.