Allegiant Air Coming to JIA

[I-10east]

Allegiant 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

[thelakelander]

Cool. I have Allegiant stock. Got into them early a few years ago. Everyone go purchase tickets!

[spuwho]

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.

[Ocklawaha]

Oh boy! Another flying cattle car at JIA! Shades of 'People Express,' LOL.

[ProjectMaximus]

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.

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!!

[thelakelander]

Haha. I purchased it back in 2012.  It's more than doubled since then, so I'm playing with house money at this point.

[spuwho]

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.

[simms3]

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.

[Steve]

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.

[simms3]

^^^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.

[Tacachale]

Why would you go to the west coast if you could avoid it? New York's on this side.

[ben says]

^^^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.

[simms3]

^^^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.

[an apple]

Yes, I am glad to hear this..

[ben says]

^^^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.