While progressively retiring its aging fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-80, Allegiant Air is affected by delays in delivery of second-hand Airbus A320s. Nevertheless, the company reported its 62nd consecutive profitable quarter for the second quarter of 2018, with a net income of USD 50 million.
The Las Vegas-based company also struggles to acquire some Airbus kits necessary for the planes’ conversion to Allegiant fleet. The chaotic deliveries led to at least 32 flight cancellations in June 2018 due to a lack of aircraft. President John Redmond said in a conference call following the financial report of the second quarter of 2018 that such disruptions of operations would not happen again, as they are “at the back end of that”. As for the brand-new A320s the company has decided to acquire, no delivery delays are reported.
The retirement schedule of the 30 MD-80 will not be modified by delays, and should see the entirety of the aging planes out of service by 2019. Due to delays, the company now expects to add 25 instead of 30 A320s, which would put its operating fleet at 77 aircraft at the end of the year.
Allegiant Air transition to a mono-plane A320 catalogue is long due, as its MD80s and the vast majority of second-hand planes composing its fleet raised safety concerns in the past. In 2015, an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times reported five mid-air incidents on Allegiant aircraft in a day, which, for an airline this size, is very concerning. A similar investigation conducted by CBS’s investigative TV show 60 Minutes between 2016 and 2017 revealed numerous technical problems and incidents within the airline.