Allegiant Air

1997–1999: Early history

Allegiant Air was founded in January 1997 by Mitch Allee, the company's owner and chief executive officer; Jim Patterson, president; and Capt. Dave Beadle, chief pilot, under the name WestJet Express. Following a trademark dispute with Westjet Air Center of Rapid City, South Dakota, and because of the name's similarity to WestJet of Canada, the airline adopted the name Allegiant Air. On June 19, 1998, Allegiant received FAA and DOT certification for scheduled and charter domestic operations. The airline also received authority to operate charter service to Canada and Mexico.

Scheduled service began on October 15, 1998, with Douglas DC-9 flights between Las Vegas and the airline's original base in Fresno, California. By August 1999, Allegiant added service to South Lake Tahoe and Burbank. In November, the schedule was cutback to just Las Vegas to Long Beach or Fresno. During this period, Allegiant operated its flights as direct-sale public charters.

2000s

In 2000, Allegiant dropped the public charter designation, resumed flights from South Lake Tahoe, and added service to Portland, Oregon, and Reno.

Higher fuel costs contributed to Allegiant filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2000. The restructuring allowed major creditor Maury Gallagher to take control of the airline. Gallagher had previously worked with Fresno-based WestAir and was among the founders of ValuJet Airlines. Under his leadership, Allegiant adopted a low-cost carrier business model focused on linking smaller cities with Las Vegas while selling bundled air and hotel packages. The airline exited bankruptcy in late 2001, and the case was formally closed in early 2002. During the restructuring, Allegiant relocated its headquarters and operations to Las Vegas.

Allegiant entered into a long-term agreement with Harrah's in March 2002 to provide charter flights to its casinos in Laughlin and Reno. Around the same time, the airline acquired its first McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. Between 2002 and 2004, Allegiant developed its scheduled-service model around leisure travel from smaller cities to Las Vegas. By 2004, the airline served Las Vegas from 13 small cities and sold bundled vacation packages that combined airfare and hotel accommodations.

Allegiant Travel, the airline's holding company, completed a private equity placement worth $39.5 million in May 2005. The company later filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of a planned initial public offering of common stock. Allegiant raised $94.5 million through the sale of 5.75 million shares priced at $18 each. Shares began trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "ALGT" in December 2006.

By 2006, Allegiant operated a fleet of 21 MD-80 aircraft and served 40 small cities, primarily through Las Vegas and Orlando/Sanford, Florida. The airline opened a fourth operations base at Mesa, Arizona, in October 2007, linking the Phoenix metropolitan area with 14 Allegiant destinations. Mesa joined Las Vegas, Orlando, and Tampa/St. Petersburg as operating bases for the airline. At the time, Allegiant operated 32 aircraft serving 53 destinations. Mesa Gateway Airport later announced a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) terminal expansion that increased the number of gates from two to four and allowed Allegiant to expand service in the Phoenix area.

Allegiant opened its fifth operations base at Fort Lauderdale on November 14, 2007, adding connections between South Florida and other Allegiant destinations. A sixth base opened at Bellingham, Washington, in January 2008. Growth at Bellingham was partly driven by the airport's proximity to Greater Vancouver in British Columbia.

2010s

In January 2010, the airline celebrated its one-millionth passenger to fly out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Allegiant's parent company also announced that it had purchased 18 additional used MD-80 aircraft from Scandinavian Airlines. In February 2010, Allegiant opened its ninth base at Grand Rapids' Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Michigan. The airline based two McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft in Grand Rapids, but ended their airport's status in 2011. The airline continues to fly out of Grand Rapids in a reduced capacity.

On July 1, 2010, Allegiant returned to Long Beach Airport (LGB) in Long Beach, California, having previously served LGB with DC-9 jets with nonstop flights to Las Vegas (LAS) and Lake Tahoe (TVL) in 2000. The airline also intended to fly from Bellingham and Stockton several times a week; however, that plan never came to fruition. Allegiant continues to serve Stockton with flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix/Mesa and San Diego. About 16 months later in November 2011, Allegiant closed its Long Beach facility.

In March 2010, Allegiant purchased six used Boeing 757-200 jetliners as part of plans to begin flights to Hawaii, with deliveries from early 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2011. It gained approval for the type with the FAA in July 2011, and then worked with the FAA to obtain the appropriate ETOPS rating in order to be able to serve Hawaii.