Allegiant on 60 minutes facts and opinions.

Real World Aviation
#1

I’ve been watching this story on Allegiant that was on 60 minutes. The airline has had 25 engine failures in less than 2 years according to the video. And other failures. Someone that used to work for the NTSB said that this is a very high amount of failures for an airline of this size. This is a harrowing account of what this airline is doing. They terminated a captain for evacuating the aircraft after they landed and had smoke in the cabin. In the letter saying it was unwarranted and the captain didn’t value company assets. There has also been 100 serious incidents in a 22 month period. The FAA has not looked into Allegiant even with these issues.

My opinion: After seeing this I am terrified that Allegiant will have a disaster sometime soon. The U.S. aviation field has been good with safety (at least to my knowledge) and I feel that Allegiant might ruin that.

SOURCE:

11 Likes
#2

I watched it as well. I didn’t realize how many incidents they have had. I am never flying with them.

#3

I saw that too and that is scary but they are retiring all the MD-90s that have had those problems with A320 that will have had perfect flight records.http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/allegiant-air-s-md-80-plans-depend-finding-a320s

1 Like
#4

https://community.infiniteflight.com/t/southwest-airlines-emergency-landing-kphl/206017/31?u=con

Go take a look at that post. Only when it on the news do people care to read about it.

#5

I mean we all knew that allergent had a lot of mechanical issues so I wasn’t really surprised when this report came out

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#6

Yes that is true but you NEVER cut corners when hundreds of lives are art stake. Period.

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#7

I find it significantly distasting of an airline to not report mechanical issues to the FAA, which is mandatory - big issue, or minuscule issue. If they are your absolute only option to fly on, and you have to fly, go ahead and fly them. But I would rather pay $200 more on any airline then fly them.

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#8

They are retiring/ have retired all of the md-80’s. They have a fleet of a320 family aircraft now, but still scary.

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#9

Yeah but those will have issues as well and probably sooner than later for them. From this I don’t see any difference happening except for a couple years it’ll be a bit better

#10

Yeah but those aren’t new A320’s. They’re used ones, just like their MD-80 fleet. I don’t know if their 757’s are new or used, but their culture of cutting corners is worrisome. Granted, many airlines fly used or pre-owned airplanes, with FedEx being a big example. The difference is the effort put into maintaining the fleet. Allegiant cuts as many corners as possible on their already old and crumbling infrastructure to try to appear as if they are keeping costs low for the consumer, while they are actually maximizing profit for the shareholders.

I agree with you, even though the A320 is a safer aircraft than the MD-80’s, its still a scary situation because of their reputation for sub-par maintenance practices. I don’t, however, believe that a news report will whip them into shape if threats from the FAA haven’t done so already. I hope this mess gets sorted out with them, scary stuff indeed.

5 Likes
#11

Well… to be honest with you I’ve flown with Allegiant every time I got to Vegas and I have never had a problem with them which made me like them except one time the Blue Man Group MD80 livery got a air conditioning smoke smell problem and they had to call in another MD80 plane the next day but this happened many years ago when I was a kid🙁

1 Like
#12

Well I’ve never flew on Allegiant before, but I heard their reputation is 💩! They just started operating at my home airport MKE a few months ago and now people have started complaining in my area if they even bother to. Now, I see Allegiant all the time tho

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#13

They do not nor have ever had any MD-90s

#14

MD-88 sorry I was reading a document on the -90

1 Like
#15

I’ve flown them a few times also. I’m originally from the South, and my family still lives there. Allegiant is one of the few airlines that connects me in Vegas to them directly, so I fly them when I have to.

Last month I went to Knoxville, Tennessee on Allegiant and flew MD-80’s both ways. I knew before going that they were near retiring the fleet, and it was made extra obvious every time the plane used its brakes. The squealed and “jolted” a little bit, much like if you’re far overdue for a brake replacement on a car, which i assumed was because since they’re so close to being phased out, don’t replace anything unless you have to. Its interesting because after this news story, it kinds puts everything in perspective.

For what its worth, the Allegiant employees are some of the most consistently nice in the business (even the folks in the corporate office in town). I know that there will be exceptions to this, but I’ve enjoyed the times I flew Allegiant because of the staff. From the gate agent to the flight attendants, the A&P’s and pilots, they’re a pretty swell group of folks. Upper management, on the other hand…

3 Likes
#16

Their employees are perfectly fine. It’s just the upper management that is ordering things like maintenance short cuts, and other illegal practices that are the issue.

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#17

Agreed. I think the employees know the reputation of their company and they go above and beyond to try to shed that image and display what quality people they are. The average employee isn’t the one making the decisions that compromise safety. Like you said, its upper management, who are usually insulated from the ramifications of their decisions.

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#18

They retired their 757 fleet last year.

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#19

Dang, you’re right. Thats a shame too, Allegiant was one of the few airlines that brought the 757 into McCarran. I need to see if I have any old spotting pics of them, I had no idea they were disappearing

2 Likes
#20

These occurrences are bound to happen considering the age of some of the aircraft they operate. It all comes down to how well they are maintained (and how carefully they are operated, I guess). I have to say, from what I’ve heard Allegiant sounds a bit stingy. Even with things going unnoticed by the media.