ok then go find the same stats for united, delta, SW, or american and see how they stack up

 

not saying it isn't true. But when one continually posts these things, you are by definition an internet troll.

also insulting someone on the internet is just stupid

 

Yes please compare airlines with over 10,000 pilots to ours. That should set the record straight.

Allegiant Air flight from Jax to Pittsburgh delayed more than 18 hours | Firstcoastnews.com

 

For the record, in case someone is keeping track, my insulting remark came after you insulted me. I didn't like being referred to as a troll simply because you didn't like a negative but accurate post about the airline. This isn't the first time you've used that "troll" insult when you didn't agree with what someone else had to say. This forum isn't just about the pilot's contract, it is for all aspects of the airline's work environment, good and bad.

Others here have posted similar info about Allegiant's failure to keep a schedule due to what most airlines would consider embarrassing failures. At least you honestly agree that the information in my comment is true. I do post criticisms and unflattering opinions, do you only want to hear from blue-sky hopefuls that think things at Allegiant are the same as every other airline? If they were the same then Allegiant wouldn't have a pilot retention problem. The primary thing bringing them pilot applicants now is the desire to escape regional airline hell.

I know you want it to be better and you get tired of hearing what is wrong, and your focus is specifically on the pilot situation and not so much the screwing-over of customers. But nothing is gonna change unless management is motivated by loss of revenue - that's the only thing they (he) cares about. One way to bring that about is for customers to become aware of the travel unreliability Allegiant routinely serves up.

I retract my jackass comment, although it's probably not the worst thing either of us has ever been called.

 

You are living in a fantasy world if you really believe those airlines have the same percentage and magnitude of flight schedule snafu's that Allegiant has. And don't even ask about the number of critical engine failures, shutdowns and inflight hiccups. If Delta or American had the same percentage rate of serious engine problems that Allegiant has there would be an immediate FAA grounding and investigation into what the heck is going on. But with a smaller operator like Allegiant it isn't getting the attention it should.

 

yep...I'm just here with my unicorns and butterflys with no clue about anything. Luckily there are people like you to keep me informed. Thanks so much!!!

 

Yes. But why? Quite simple: Eye on the prize. Don't squander revenue on parts, or qualified, experienced, well trained maintenance. Hire on the cheap, right out of school (same with dispatchers). Outsource everything they can't fix or figure out. Question: does Allegiant even own a single hangar? Saving money buying trashed out, junk airplanes (60,000 hours?!?) from foreign carriers who fail to properly maintain their equipment might prompt a wise business to invest more on the reliability side. Not here.

Schedulers? Hired off the street with little knowledge or experience. Ramp? Customer service? Outsource! New, untrained, under-paid faces appear every day because of high turnover (some wearing nose rings, neck tattoos, etc). Who do our customers turn to when the inevitable occurs? Call center! Ever try calling THAT place? Where do our customers go to purchase tickets and vacation packages? A website designed by our illustrious IT department.

Training? Shouldn't a company that hires entry-level applicants in every department spend (invest?) more in training? Granted, some of this could be mitigated with qualified (trained?) supervision, but does that happen? management is often comprised of those promoted because they couldn't leave. More of the same.

All of this could be dismissed as a fast buck scheme, businesses like these pop up every day. But in our business, lives are at stake, a lesson that should have been learned from the ValuJet disaster.

Sadly, nothing will change so long as the money keeps piling in and government regulators look the other way. Investors and wall street will continue to applaud, the cheap flying public will keep searching for the cheapest fare and employees will keep applying to work here. Until our luck runs out. Then, it's all out the window. Doesn't appear to be a very good business plan, does it? Maybe more should be invested on a risk mitigation department.

And yes, before anybody asks, I too am applying elsewhere.

 

Here's some non-inflammatory (hopefully) numbers taken from the respective airline websites and investor relations documents. I think it shows that as you increase in size you can get multiples of improvement in many areas due to redundancy, training efficiency, natural backup alternatives. Of course the business model for Allegiant is completely unlike the other airlines listed, but everyone always like to compare to them anyway. And for things like on-time performance, flight completion factor and customer service there should be no difference in expectations.


Allegiant Air

Approx 84 aircraft (48 various MD-80 models, 5 Boeing 757, 31 Airbus models). There are 7 Airbus aircraft on order for 2016 and the 757 models are going away. Allegiant has approx 711 pilots.

For the month of May 2016 these aircraft flew 6,250 scheduled flights plus 274 charter/fixed-fee flights, for an average of 210 flights per day. This is up 20% from May 2015. Load factor for May 2016 was 85%, down approx 1% compared to May 2015. On days where 20 flights are significantly delayed for several hours or cancelled that represents about 10% of the total flight ops that day. Delta would have to have nearly 600 daily flights cancelled or significantly delayed for several hours to reach the same level of service. The Allegiant website did not list their on-time performance but FlightStats.com put it at 48%.

As of April 2016 year over year total revenue is down 11.5% but expected to improve by end of summer season.
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________


For comparison of scale here are some other airline numbers:

Delta Airlines has 809 mainline aircraft and 447 regional aircraft, employees 13,188 pilots, conducts approx 3,300 mainline flights per day (and an additional daily 2,600 Delta Connection flights). For May 2016 they boast a 99.9% mainline scheduled flight completion factor and an 88.6% on-time factor (flights arriving within 14 minutes of scheduled time). As of June 16th they have gone 81 continuous days without a single domestic flight being canceled. (this is impressive, and their fleet avg age is older than AA). Their May 2016 domestic mainline load factor was 87.7% and 82% for regional operations.

American Airlines has 963 mainline aircraft (plus 578 regional aircraft) and 14,254 pilots (with additional 900 on furlough). Total daily flights are approx 2,800 mainline and 3,400 regional flights. The completion factor was 98.9% with an on-time factor of 68.4%. The May 2016 domestic mainline load factor was 82% and 79% for regionals.

United Airlines has 715 aircraft (plus 24 new aircraft being delivered) and 521 regional aircraft (with plans to drop 25 regional aircraft). They employee 11,377 pilots. It operates approx 2,400 mainline flights and 2,600 regional flights per day. Their May 2016 on-time performace was 68% (10 points higher than May 2015) and a completion factor of 98.9%. The May 2016 load factor was 82% mainline and 85% regional.

.

 

CORRECTION- the on-time performance for Allegiant in May 2016 was 70% (the 48% number was from a few months ago).

70% is much better but Allegiant still placed last out of the 7 LCC tracked by FlightStats.com, which includes Southwest, JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit, Virgin and WestJet and Allegiant.

 

A TA has been reached.