All signs point to Allegiant taking the wraps off their long awaited Hawaii service in the very near future. As you know this has been in the works for years. The gossip mill has been churning again recently and I’ve been hearing from various people both whom I know and anonymously.
Here are some of the indications and where we are likely to see them flying to and from. Get our your crystal ball and chime in as to which cities will be first:
California is in the mix
The two most likely airports are Stockton and Fresno. We’ve discussed these repeatedly and all indications are that at least one of these will be in the first announcement.
Other possible markets
- A second tier Oregon airport, possible Eugene or Medford.
- A Southern California airport, possibly Santa Maria, Santa Barbara or San Luis Obisbo.
And the long shots
Others that I believe are not likely at this time include:
- Oakland – which has too much competition.
- Ontario – which has never worked for Hawaii service.
- Bellingham – it barely works for Alaska Air but enough so to probably keep Allegiant out.
- Phoenix-Mesa.
Service Starts This Summer
- Allegiant has continued to reaffirm that they will be flying to Hawaii by Summer 2012. That’s coming up very quickly now and frankly I expected there would have already been an announcement. Airlines typically want a little longer to ramp up, especially for such a new flight model. On the other hand, none of the Hawaii players wants to tip their hand, which at least in part explains the delay. They are also awaiting final government approval at the moment.
- Late last month I learned of the first job posting by Allegiant for Honolulu.
- Allegiant’s 757’s, which were on lease outside of the US, have been repainted to the Allegiant brand and have recently been spotted.
No daily service – 2 or 3 times a week
Allegiant is likely to fly only two to three times a week from any given airport. That is a model they’ve used successfully before and seems almost certain to be deployed in Hawaii as well. That also would allow them to serve more cities if desired.
Which Hawaii Airports
I’m not sure on this one. Any thoughts? My prediction is Honolulu, but I’d not be surprised to see other islands in the mix.
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Santa Maria had 2 flights weekly to Las Vegas by Allegiant air when first started, then moved it to 3 now it is 4 per week. They are a very successful Air Line. Santa Maria is almost finished extending their runway by 4000 more feet. This is also a good air port for people going to/from Vandenberg Air Force Base only 12 miles away. Also for those going East as their Hub is Las Vegas. From there one can go anywhere.
I vote for Santa Maria. Great place to head out from. Big enough. Easy to get to. Free parking. Central in relationship to L.A. area, bay area, and central valley.
Kaelo J.,
While LAS could well be in the mix, it won’t be because Allegiant wants to connect pax through from the rest of their route structure. Allegiant’s business model is specifically geared to direct, point to point service. You’ll note that even if one wanted to connect through a city on Allegiant’s existing route structure, the airline requires the passenger to go get their bags and baggage claim, and check in separately for the “connecting” flight. This is because Allegiant obtains significant cost savings by cutting out the labor, logistics, and added responsibilities that go with allowing connecting flights. This way, Allegiant isn’t on the hook for hotel accommodations when things go awry on connections, liability for baggage is minimalized, etc.
Now Allegiant could want to fly from LAS in order to capitalize on “connections” from pax who would fly there on other carriers and then on to Hawaii with Allegiant. But even that seems unlikely. Allegiant’s success has been to “Keep it simple, stupid.” They likely wouldn’t want to deal with the headaches that go with people counting on other carriers to get to LAS in order to make their flights. Add to that Allegiant has never been keen to compete with the majors on any route and LAS looks even less likely.
I think we’ll see service from any given relatively obscure airport on the West Coast that has absolutely no competing routes to any of the Hawaiian islands.
A ventured guess is that LAS VEGAS will be one of their routes to HAWAII. WHY? The only other competitor is Hawaiian Air. Besides,
Allegiant connects from the middle to LAS — why not go on to Hawaii.
They have already been advertising for about two weeks in various online and newspaper classifieds that they are HIRING. It did not say
whether the hirings were for HAWAII specifically. Internally, they will
announce to their employees first, who would want the Hawaii routes. New people hired will get other routings.
I’m sure a lot of Canadians would like to see Allegiant depart from Bellingham for Hawaii.
It is nice to at least see Santa Maria in the mix. This is an Ideal spot for that destination. I am still rooting for this one.
I can’t believe that you’re so on the ball you know about this stuff! Thanks.