re: Allegiant Airlines - The most dangerous airline in the US

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I have an Allegiant flight next week. I didn't need this.

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I’m not trying to stick up for them, but when you fly isn’t that kind of a risk in itself that literally anything can happen 30,000 feet in the air?

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I typed my flight number into google and then found the flight on flight aware.

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A320 for me, thanks.

It seems that the report on Allegiant gave itself an "out" by saying most of the MD80 planes are being phased out. The fact that they didn't separate maintenance issues by airframe seems to point in that direction also.

Here's Allegiant's response via CBS News. I find it pretty interesting.

TLDR Version - interviewee on the video works for the pilot that is suing Allegiant. Allegiant says it's pretty much a smear campaign.

And the full response:

The airline issued a statement from Allegiant Vice President of Operations Eric Gunst stating:

"It is unfortunate and disappointing that CBS 60 Minutes has chosen to air a false narrative about Allegiant and the FAA. Not only do we expect our team members to adhere to all company procedures and policies—including safety procedures—but many positions are subject to statutory and regulatory obligations. The violation of those obligations would trigger not only punitive action from Allegiant, but could also result in enforcement action from regulatory agencies, loss of a certification, and even criminal charges. To suggest that Allegiant would engage in the practice of asking team members to violate company and regulatory obligations is offensive and defamatory.

"CBS produced a one-sided narrative by cherry-picking interviews and ignoring publicly-available facts. For example, the show's star interviewee, John Goglia, is not an un-biased commentator; he is a paid expert working for a former Allegiant pilot who has sued Allegiant. That pilot, Jason Kinzer, claims that he was wrongfully terminated after an evacuation. In fact, Kinzer was terminated because he unnecessarily evacuated a plane "at great risk to the crew and passengers" even though there "was no smoke, fire, or an aircraft malfunction," and, during a post-flight investigation, he refused to "acknowledge his mistakes" or "demonstrate[] that he was capable of learning and growing from the event going forward." (See Defendants' Revised Motion for Summary Judgment, Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, NV, Case No. A-15-727524-C.) Surprisingly, the 60 Minutes presentation of Mr. Kinzer's case omits this publicly-available side of the story.

"The FAA exercises rigorous oversight of Allegiant, as they do all airlines operating in the United States. Allegiant complies with all FAA requirements and participates in numerous voluntary safety programs to ensure we operate to the highest standards. Additionally, we expect our team members to follow all company policies and practice strict adherence to FAA regulations and guidelines. Several anonymous, non-disciplinary reporting systems are available through Allegiant as well as through the FAA for team members to report safety concerns. Notably, none of the concerns allegedly expressed by Allegiant team members during the 60 Minutes episode were found to have been reported through any of these appropriate channels.

"Allegiant's team members safely operate thousands of flights each week, which will transport more than 14 million passengers this year. We have safely carried nearly 90 million passengers since beginning operations in 2001. Our workforce is made up of more than 4,000 dedicated and hard-working people who wake up every day thinking about how to move our customers safely from one place to another."

ETA - This response makes it more interesting that the news piece gave itself an out (by saying it could be better with the airbus). They go all out attacking allegiant, but then say it could just be the old planes that caused the malfunctions.

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This response makes it more interesting that the news piece gave itself an out (by saying it could be better with the airbus). They go all out attacking allegiant, but then say it could just be the old planes that caused the malfunctions.

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They also gave specific instances of maintenance deficiencies such as missing critical flight components, maintenance guys pushing pilots not to report issues, as well as the termination of that pilot for evacuating his plane.

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AA

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has the most modern fleet in the business

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We wanted to know how unusual it was for a small airline with 99 planes to have 25 engine failures or malfunctions in less than two years. Daniel Wells: Well, I-- I don't have all the data in front of me to compare with other airlines. But I can say that those are extraordinarily high numbers. Steve Kroft: Outside the norm? Daniel Wells: Outside the norm for sure. If I come into a career as an airline pilot now, I will go my entire career, maybe 30 years, and never have an engine failure, ever.

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See, this right here also points to an agenda. He asks if it's unusual to have an airline with 99 planes to have 25 engine failures or malfunctions in less than 2 years. But then Mr. Wells acts as if it were 25 engine failures (and ignores malfunctions). What constitutes a failure versus a malfunction? A high bleed air pressure would be a malfunction, not a failure... and this is very common across airframes. Instead of going for shock value and skewing numbers by lumping things together, I'd want to know how many engine failures they had. Is it 1 out of those 25, or is it 15? It makes a huge difference. When reporters fail to do their due diligence, it weakens their argument. I'm not saying Allegiant is a good or safe airline, but this news report can't say either.

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VerminJet employee cutting corners under orders, was a scumbag outfit, now a part of WN via Airtran

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Didn't a contractor handle the tanks?

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They should use this in advertising. I bet revenue would increase if they played it right. Edgy

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Alliegient Airlines- The Most Extreme Airline you'll ever fly