Is Allegiant Air Unsafe?

While they are probably less safe than other airlines, I still wouldn't categorize them as "unsafe" as is evident by their no fatality record. My wife has flown them a few times with no issues.

"...criteria [to the FAA] is open to interpretation and therefore is vastly different from fleet to fleet.”
How many ways you can interpret unscheduled landings and aborted takeoffs? Black is Black, White is White. I don't see Gray anywhere that needs interpretation, unless I'm color blind.
Some people "high up" talk like every one around them are idiots and will not question explanation.

Laughable. .

There are 5 airlines/places that I wouldn't feel safe flying to right now: Egypt, Allegiant, and Nepal Airlines, and airlines from Thailand and Indonesia besides Garuda and Thai.

“I don’t think there’s a safety problem,” Allegiant’s chief operating officer, Jude Bricker, said in an interview. “Our unscheduled landings in particular are a result primarily of an abundance of caution, and our pilots are entitled to put their planes into landing anytime they feel unsafe.”

So they say. However the WaPo article points out that they seemingly fire pilots for doing so:

"Just over a year ago, Allegiant Air pilot Jason Kinzer was sitting in the cockpit of a 24-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft bound for Hagerstown, Md., having just taken off from St. Petersburg, Fla.

As the plane climbed through 2,500 feet, a cabin attendant alerted Kinzer to a strong burning smell. Alarmed, Kinzer turned Allegiant Air Flight 864 back toward the airport. Fire and rescue crews met the plane on the runway as smoke wafted from an engine. Kinzer told the 144 passengers to disembark. He then helped a flight attendant carry a paraplegic passenger to the exit.

It seemed to be model behavior. But Allegiant Air did not praise Kinzer. It fired him.

In a dismissal letter, the airline called the evacuation of the plane “unwarranted” and faulted Kinzer as not 'striving to preserve the Company’s assets, aircraft, ground equipment, fuel and the personal time of our employees and customers.'

An accident waiting to happen from the former founder and CEO of Valuejet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ValuJet_Flight_592

I might fly them on a 1 hour flight for 50$ and 500,000 miles if Allegiant let you transfer your miles to AS, SQ, or AA

Definitely not. Another airline on my No Fly list.

@TravelinWilly - I guess Allegiant pilots are not members of ALPA as such an occurrence would not happen under those circumstances at most other airlines. Of course we don't know the whole story. With that said, I will be curious to read the comments as Allegiant flies out of Concord, NC near my house to some attractive destinations in Myrtle Beach, and Florida. They are certainly cheap enough I can fly round trip to Ft. Myers/Punta Gorda for $100. Of course I always adhere to the rule of "you get what you pay for" there are marginal differences in price and value but when you get above and below a certain level it makes you wonder. I can deal with a fairly uncomfortable seat from say Charlotte to Myrtle Beach its a 45 minute flight compared to about 4 hours in the car. We are thinking about buying a tiny house as a retirement/getaway and that would make it very practical. Safety is first however and it does bother me enough right now that I am inclined to not fly Allegiant until I get more comfortable. Does anyone know for sure if they subcontract out their maintenance and where and by whom it is performed?

I'd be curious if the top execs , directors and managers of allegiant fly their own airline, for business and pleasure?

@ Craig, Does G4 really fly from USA-MYR? Also, here's an interesting article featuring comments and the story of a former maintenance worker: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/airlines/former-allegiant-air-mechanic-says-he-quit-over-obscene-maintenance/2260591

That report won't stop me from flying Allegiant when the price and schedule are right. Crashes would make me stop.

The report could be spun to indicate that their system is working - those unscheduled landings, emergency descents, and aborted takeoffs indicate that the pilot is paying attention to the safety of the airplane...

@anon... I don't think they do. When Richard H. Anderson once flew on Delta commercial, there was a big fanfare about it, how much he likes to fly in Economy. I can be wrong, someone can chime in.

Ben,

I appreciate the article and it was very helpful. I actually would avoid Allegiant based on the earlier comment of the pilots. Even if it was a bit exaggerated, due to contract talks, that's still shocking. The data from the Washington Post confirms their word.

I just wanted to point out to you that the description of Allegiant's role was quite murky, when you said the airline "operates primarily between leisure destinations within the southern part of the US."

I think you'd find much better wording somewhere on the Web, but here's mine: "Allegiant fills the niche of flying non-stop from smaller, underserved airports to several leisure destinations, such as Orlando, Los Angeles, and Phoenix." I didn't understand this until I moved to Northwest Arkansas, where Allegiant was the only way to fly nonstop in 2010 to those three destinations, without connecting through a larger city. That's changed since then. In other words, they do fill a very important market niche left unclaimed by larger airlines.

Good statement by @marcmsj . Should we state it is unsafe because there are no human injuries or death?
If a Greyhound bus' front wheel wobbles and makes the bus to control very hard, but the drivers are with long years of hundred thousands of miles experienced, they piss and moan, never less they keep the bus on road safely. Is it unsafe even there is no injury or death? I guess someone smarter than me can answer this because it raises a good point.

@Craig "I guess Allegiant pilots are not members of ALPA"
Even more reason not to fly them.

My corporate travel policy prohibits travel on Allegiant but my understand is that its due to unreliability and excessive fees rather than their safety record. They also prohibit travel on Spirit and Frontier

I wouldn't fly them if the fare were free. Allegiant is a No Go.

@Alex It is a very forward thinking policy. I like it. I'm not sure if Frontier is as unreliable as Alligean or Spririt, but Frontier definitely has high surcharges.

"@TravelinWilly – I guess Allegiant pilots are not members of ALPA as such an occurrence would not happen under those circumstances at most other airlines. Of course we don’t know the whole story."

@Craig - You raise a couple of very good points regarding ALPA (I didn't even think of that, and you're right, it couldn't have been that easy to fire had the pilot been a member), and true, we don't know the whole story. However I can only presume Allegiant didn't elaborate due to an "ongoing lawsuit."

In looking for additional information, I came across this image, which leads me to believe he may be a member of the teamsters(?):

Their biggest mistake was to include the part where they said the reason for the firing was that Kinzer "had failed in his duty to “operat[e] each aircraft safely, smoothly and efficiently and striv[e] to preserve the company’s assets.” They probably should have left out "strive to preserve the company's assets." They basically said "Yeah, it's about money." And it certainly may have been retaliatory due to the ongoing salary negotiations.

I'm eager to see what a judge has to say if the case goes to trial, and I hope it does.

Just have a quick look at a website named avherald. Non for profit. Lot of professional comments. There you will easily find and compare incidents, accidents and crashes. You may easily sort out results of allegiant reported failures.
And definitively you board another airline..

Allegiant..."Travel is our deal"...No deal for me. I pass!

My life is worth more than saving $9 for a flight to an airport that's 40+ miles from the city center.

Bud Light's Mr Discount Airline Pilot Guy advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qben5MLmtXo Bonus: It mentions Fort Myers.

I used to work for ValuJet when it was run by Gallagher. So this story doesn't surprise me. Seems like he hasn't changed over the years.

I love Allegiant airlines. They are very convenient for me, and allowed me to get a consulting job in TN while I live in FLA, and I can commute once or twice a month. Direct flight, 1 hour 24 minutes, no hassles, big plan smooth flights, (usually) and my employer pays for it. Never had a problem and flew back to FLA yesterday and landed about 20-25 minutes ahead of schedule.
As for the new credit card offer, they do mention it about 30 minutes before landing, and walk through the cabin, but only give you an application if you specifically ask for it. It is more like the pre-flight safety instructions, that no one pays attention to. I love my current Capital One Rewards card, but this one with the 3X points on Allegiant travel, may very well put me ahead of my current card, only due to the number of work related flights I take and have to book them myself and then get reimbursed.

I just booked for a flight from NC to New Orleans in March.
After reading this I have safety concerns and want to cancel. It looks like I will still be charged . Can I get some feedback from a piolet?
Thank you

I've flown this air airline quite a few time. From St Pete to Roanoke, Va and return. Only had a problem one time. We were supposed to leave St Pete at 3:50 PM. After two failed attempts finally took off almost 9PM. Got to Ronoake at midnight instead of 8:30PM. Return trip was uneventful.

A allege that plane had engine problems today in Asheville nc n had to cancel the flight. I'm flying out on tri cities to Clearwater n I don't like to fly anyway could someone please ck n reck the planes for the safety of everyone thanku

This article is ridiculous. Don't get on the aircraft then, stop buying the freakin tickets. Every Airline has its issues, just like ever auto maker, cell phone provider, cable company or restaurant. GTFOH with this crap.