Allegiant Air Agonizes Over New Routes for Months or Even Years
Photo Credit: Many small U.S. cities woo Allegiant Air but the airline is very picky about where it decides to launch new routes. Allegiant Air
Skift Take
Allegiant can't fly its MD80s from some cities at certain times of the year. It sometimes cancels routes before they launch. And it's not interested in coast-to-coast routes. Learn why in this discussion with the airline's director of planning.
Editor's note: This series, called Airline Insiders, introduces readers to behind-the-scenes decision-makers for airlines. Unlike our ongoing airline CEO series, Future of the Passenger Experience, we will not question the highest-ranking executives here. Instead, we will speak with insiders who guide decisions on airline operations, networks, marketing, and the passenger experience.
Today, in the fourth installment of the series, we speak to an executive who chooses routes for Allegiant Air, one of the three ultra-low-cost carriers in the United States.
You can read all the stories in the series here.
There’s an old joke about airline planners — that they all have a world map tacked to their office walls. And when they need to launch a new route, they throw a dart at it. Wherever it lands is the airline's next destination.
It's not true, of course.
Planners take new routes seriously, often studying them for months – or even years — before recommending them. Th
