News from Allegiant Air today which had been long anticipated. The airline will terminate its last flights to Honolulu this fall. Allegiant announced that it will retire its aging and questionably reliable fleet of Boeing 757 aircraft that flew to the islands. Otherwise, once every six year, expensive, heavy maintenance D checks would have been required.
We all had very high hopes when Allegiant entered the Hawaii deal market in 2012. They announced aggressive Hawaii expansion with flights from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Bellingham, Phoenix, Boise, Eugene, Fresno and Stockton. Prices started at $99 each way. But within two years they had terminated all flights except from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to Honolulu. Los Angeles flights ended in 2015, leaving only Las Vegas.
In 2010, in order to begin flights to Hawaii, Allegiant bought six previously owned Boeing 757-200 aircraft. Those were delivered in 2010 and 2011. Thereafter Allegiant received FAA certifications including ETOPS for long distance over water flights. As they cancelled some of their Hawaii flights, Allegiant started using the 757’s within the continental U.S.
Hawaii bellwethers Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines rarely competed with Allegiant Air on price, as they didn’t actually view them as a competitor.
Allegiant Hawaii service was never popular
For multiple reason’s Hawaii never panned out for Allegiant. These included:
- Limited service model including seats that did not recline.
- A la carte pricing including fees for carry-on luggage.
- Multiple newsworthy service delays and safety concerns.
- Lack of customer service. As Allegiant officials told us personally, they are not a “high touch” airline. It is about getting people cheaply from one place to another.
- Aging, expensive to maintain aircraft.
In the end, the Allegiant Hawaii model had very limited appeal to those of us who live in Hawaii and to Hawaii visitors. We opted to never fly Allegiant Air.
I think Allegiant Air should just fold. They’re running on borrowed time before there will be a flight disaster with their very old airlines.
Call me Jealous!! To those of you who commented on how bad Allegiant was, or how they weren’t up to your standards, I Am Envious! Speaking as one Maui boy, having to live on the mainland, because cost of living is too high to live by Family & Friends, I’d prefer to fly Hawaiian also. However, with ticket prices (on sale) about $600-$700 RT, I’d rather pay $300rt to fly Allegiant (or anybody) and get to visit home, than stay stuck on the mainland, and not afford to fly at all. But maybe that’s what the one commenter meant by saying we “Discriminate”??
60 Minutes on CBS TV tonight had a 30 minute, two-segment report on safety issues with Allegiant Airlines. Thank goodness, it’s not flying over the Pacific!
I agree i miss alegiant in hawaii!! Flight was okay and so was the price!
Hawaiian culture discriminats and they did not connect properly with the islands people. Yet the foolish part is the people loose out with higher fares. Discrimination ultimately hurts the ones that do it.
I for one am really disappointed that Allegiant has dropped it’s flights to Honolulu. As a owner of a timeshare Condo there, we travel there every year. The flights were cheap, comfortable and have always had good service. The staff was friendly and fun. Gonna miss these guys for sure ! Not happy ! 🙁
Southwest is adding HON flights starting in 2018. Announcement was just made in early October!
Nooooo…..
Went to Honolulu from Vegas on two occasions for about $300 roundtrip each time! That’s insane. Yes, the airline is no-frills and they are notorious for nickel and diming, but it got us to Hawaii just fine with money to spare! Gonna miss these prices.
We flew once on Allegiant from Mesa (Phoenix) to Honolulu. The only good thing about the trip was the lower fares. The seats were crammed in and they nickeled and dimed you to death. However, having said that, it was great to see someone trying to compete with American (U.S. Air) and Hawaiian, since they never compete and they rip-off the Hawaii bound travelers from Phoenix. Alaska where are you? United, Delta, and Southwest move in and save us.
Good riddance to bad rubbish…
Alaska has always been our preferred airline for travel anywhere in the US including Hawaii! We always get awesome customer service and great price on tickets! The staff are always friendly! The few times we travelled Allegiant the flight was always late or delayed! Good riddance!
We use Alaska to HON with our companion fare, a perk of having the AlaskaAirlines credit card –
basically two for one (companion fare is only $100)