Allegiant Air to increase operations in Bellingham, Wash.

January 29th, 2008 at 03:56pm Thomas V. Bona

The airline will base two planes and add more than 60 employees at the airport, located in between Vancouver and Seattle.

Why should you care? Because whither Allegiant, whither Rockford. The low-cost carrier is the largest operator at Chicago Rockford International Airport and flies to every one of its “focus cities” from Rockford. So if Allegiant ever decides to make Bellingham a bit of a “focus city”, it could benefit Rockford…

Not saying that’s definitely their plan. What I do know, from a public presentation airline officials made a couple months ago, is they plan to make cities like Reno and Lake Tahoe sort of mini-focus cities, adding routes from places that already have successful Las Vegas service. The airline also is considering “niche” destinations that would be served by only a few cities. Maybe Bellingham? I hear Vancouver is quite nice.

Airport Executive Director Bob O’Brien said, “Yes we have talked with Allegiant about Bellingham, as well as other destinations. And next week I’ll be out meeting with them in Las Vegas.”

Moreover, O’Brien continues to lobby Allegiant to base a plane here in Rockford and perhaps make “Chicago/Rockford” a bit of a focus city. Airport officials may have to build a maintenance facility for Allegiant here to make it work, but there’s room for something like that, O’Brien said.

All this is tempered, of course, by the high price of fuel. Allegiant is trying to make a name for itself as an alternative to the big legacy carriers. But its “Maddog” planes are guzzlers.

Keep watching the skies…

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