Allegiant Air Coming to JIA

[Ocklawaha]

THE GLORY YEARS!

http://www.youtube.com/v/cpaaCvljl-o?hl=en_US






Imeson Airport Terminal

[jaxjags]

Ock is correct. The problem for LAX and international flights for JAX is Orlando and ATL. Too close with too many flights.

[ben says]

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!)

[spuwho]

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!

[ProjectMaximus]

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.

[thelakelander]

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.

[ben says]

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.

[thelakelander]

Yes, for domestic travel. I've never used a discount carrier for international travel, so I'm not familiar.

[Ocklawaha]

Hey! It was cheap!

[ProjectMaximus]

For the most part I agree with you Lake, but if I landed at midnight instead of 4pm I'd be quite upset.

[thelakelander]

Yeah. However that's only happened to me with TWA, Delta, Continental and US Air.

[thelakelander]

City notes: Allegiant Air to offer nonstop to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh from JIA

Full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544864

[spuwho]

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.

[thelakelander]

Hmmmm, no wonder my Allegiant stock took a hit today.