Why Rockford (and Peoria) was spared Allegiant cuts

Add comment November 14th, 2007

As I suspected, Allegiant Air didn’t cut flights between Las Vegas and Rockford or Peoria because they are established routes with good passenger numbers and profitability, according to spokeswoman Tyri Squyres. The airports that lost Vegas service are generally new markets (poor Marion, Illinois, didn’t even get its first flight before service was canceled). Because those were new routes, they weren’t yet very profitable as passengers were still learning about them, Squyres explained. With gas prices so high, it was the less profitable long-haul trips that were axed.

Even if gas prices stay high, Squyes said Rockford is probably safe. “We’re pretty confident that this is the big cut that we’ll make,” she said. “You may see us play with our schedule a bit. You’re not going to lose a whole destination, it may be we’ll pull back a few flights.”

Allegiant has already done this in Rockford before, cutting service to St. Petersburg, Fla., for 10 weeks this fall and reducing flights to Orlando-Sanford, Fla., due to low seasonal demand. But it’s also brought those flights back and then some for the busy winter and spring. While Allegiant offers 12 weekly flights to and from Rockford through mid-December, it plans 16 flights a week in late December, 17 a week in February and a record 19 a week in March.

By my calculations, in March, Rockford would have the most weekly flights of any of Allegiant’s non-destination airports. So RFD has that going for it.

Things also look good for Peoria, which could probably benefit from the cutting of service in Springfield. It’ll increase to 17 flights a week in March.

Myrtle Beach still a possibility

Add comment November 14th, 2007

Spoke with Judy Tull, CEO of Myrtle Beach Direct Air, this morning about the possibility of flights from Rockford to Myrtle Beach. While the airline was hoping for a federal grant to fund the service, which it didn’t get, Tull said it’s still possible there could be flights as early as next March. It depends on whether the carrier can fit the route in its schedule with the airplanes it has now - the airline recently announced service out of Columbus, Ohio, to go with its service through Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY; Newark, NJ; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; and Gulfport, Miss. Given the tenuousness of such service “possibilities” (Remember Festival Airlines?) I wouldn’t make plans but would remain hopeful that Myrtle Beach service would return to Rockford sometime.

Speaking of “possibilities”, I’m still checking on Kenny Tours’s hope to start service between Rockford and Shannon, Ireland. I just learned from the U.S. Department of Transportation that the route hasn’t yet gotten DOT approval, but the process is pretty quick. It’s likely that Kenny is still trying to seal a deal with an airline to operate the flights. Hopefully we’ll have more later today at BusinessRockford.com.