Allegiant Grounds Its Planes for Slide Inspections

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co was hard-hit when the FAA grounded up to 30 of their MD-80 aircrafts, a figure representing approximately half of their fleet. Allegiant has been scrambling to resolve this situation, which has effected at least 2,700 passengers and caused the value of the company’s shares to fall by about 5 percent on Nasdaq Friday, September 20th.

The carrier offers low-cost fares to popular leisure destinations, including Florida and Hawaii. One such flight to Las Vegas resulted in an emergency evacuation on Monday, September 16th. The FAA investigation into that incident revealed the evacuation slides had not been maintained according to the manufacturer’s updated requirements for older slides, which call for a yearly overhaul. Allegiant has revealed that they have only been inspecting the evacuation slides at three year intervals.

Because the slides must be removed and sent away for overhaul, Allegiant has been purchasing replacement evacuation slides, in order to return the MD-80s to service as quickly as possible. The company has also managed to secure seven aircrafts from other carriers as it struggles to maintain flight schedules in the wake of this disruption. More delays and rescheduling are anticipated before the situation abates and order can be restored.

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