Originally Posted by GonzoandCamila

I worked there for almost two years. It is very very difficult to commute to and from Allegiant because most of your flying is day trips, although that was and is still changing. There is no union or real representation for the pilot group, they have a group called AAPAG that sort of asks the company for pay increases and more benefits and they ususally get something but not a whole lot. The problem is not so pay so much as the company does all kinds of underhanded things like sending you in a plane that is not fixed or has broken equipment that is neccesary for flight. Not to mention they have no problem having you hang around at the airport waiting for whatever dispatches/scheduling/mgt bidding is that day. It also has people in scheduling dispatch etc that still think it is a 3 airplane operation and don't have a clue where most of their pilots and airplanes are or what they are doing. I am sure a few of the AAPAG guys will get on here and tell you how great it is but they are all senior Capts in LAS and drink the kool-aid regulary, be wary of them. It's not great for schedules and they do open a close bases pretty often. When I worked there I thought about moving but it is a risk. LAS is to senior to hold as a Capt and so are Reno and Laghlin. Orlando is also pretty senior for capts, PIE and FLL and Tunica are junior from what I understand. Tunica and SFB-orlando both require 35-55 minute drives to a real airport to commute out of. FLL is difficult for commuting unless you live on the east coast. PIE also requires a drive to TPA to commute. Upgrade for me was almost two years and I really enjoyed my time at Allegiant. However, I don't think I would go there now. Their are regional jobs that are simliar in pay with much better work rules. express jet comes to mind etc. Don't be fooled by the pay rates many of our second and third year capts make 50-75k per year because there are no real work rules to protect you. For example you get block or better on the day not on the leg so it's rare you ever go over block for the day. Also their is no sick time only PTO and scheduling decided wether or not to pay you PTO for it. Otherwise you just lose pay.
Flying their was very scary at times, I had one engine failure and one high speed abort(oil press) and one hyd failure and three air returns in the 1200 hours I flew there. The airplanes are poorly maintained and ignored a lot of the time. I know of two captains who had to take a month off because they were frazzled from flying at Allegiant. Dispatch was so bad that I and many other pilots use flight watch in flight for WX updates, it's almost impossible to get in touch with company in flight most of the time. When I first started there it was better because the operation was much smaller now it seems to be getting worse from what I understand. Like the previous posters said it's ok if you build some MD-80 time and get out ASAP that is what I and many others have done.


Just my 2c