I’ll say this up front before getting to the alarming statistics about how dangerous Allegiant Air is: I’ve only flown on Allegiant once, we didn’t crash, but the paint was literally peeling off the ceiling of the plane and this made it look like everything was falling apart.
Three reporters over at the Tampa Bay Times tag teamed this insanely in-depth expose of how dangerous Allegiant planes are compared to the rest of the commercial airline industry. They published their findings back in November, but for some reason, this article only came across my desk today. I’ve never had a fear of flying. I don’t get nervous on huge commercial planes when the turbulence kicks or on tiny private jets when you’re landing on a runway smaller than a driveway. But, after reading a few of the stats uncovered by TBTimes‘ Nathaniel Lash, William R. Levesque, and Anthony Cormier, I will probably go out of my way to ensure I never fly Allegiant Air again.
Let’s start with the most alarming of statistics discovered by this crew of investigative journalists:
Forty-two of Allegiant’s 86 planes broke down in mid-flight at least once in 2015. Among them were 15 forced to land by failing engines, nine by overheating tail compartments and six by smoke or the smell of something burning.
Allegiant Air is a budget airline, and I guess you get what you pay for when it comes to their aging fleet. According to Wikipedia, they only have 85 planes currently in use. In 2015, they had 86 planes, and of those 86 planes 42 of them broke down WHILE THEY WERE FLYING IN THE AIR WITH PASSENGERS ABOARD. How the fuck have they not been shut down by the government yet when their equipment is this defective? Seriously, I need an answer to this question because I can’t wrap my mind around them still being in business.
Moving on. Here’s another terrifying excerpt from the TBTimes’ takedown of Allegiant:
Experts who reviewed Allegiant mechanical records at the Times’ request said improvements are needed.
They said the records show Allegiant missed routine inspections. They said they found documentation that engines were fixed and then broke down again weeks later. They said the company appeared to allow minor problems to linger until they became major malfunctions.
“Allegiant is probably going to have an accident,” said former FAA inspector Richard Wyeroski, who became a whistleblower in 2002. “That airline should basically be grounded and re-evaluated for their certificate.”
Please, don’t stop reading about how terrifying their planes are and how often they break down. CLICK HERE to see the TBTimes’ complete findings, including all of the types of in-air malfunctions recorded and overlooked.
On average, planes owned by Allegiant Air are 22-years-old (the industry average is 12). So they’re charging customers to fly on equipment that’s almost 2x as old as the rest of the commercial airplanes in America, AND they’re skipping routine inspections only to have these planes breakdown mid-air with passengers on them!
As I said above, I’ll now be going out of my way to never fly this airline again.