Allegiant Air's Safety Practices Questioned In 60 Minutes Segment

LAS VEGAS, NV - Allegiant Air is pushing back against a 60 Minutes news piece aired Sunday night alleging the airline has experienced over 100 mechanical issues aboard flights since January 2016, and that the company actively discourages pilots from reporting mechanical issues.

In the report, multiple former officials said they would said safety issues prohibit them, and many others in the airline industry, do not fly on Allegiant Air due to safety concerns.

"I have encouraged my family, my friends and myself not to fly on Allegiant," John Goglia, former nine-year president of the National Transportation Safety Board, told 60 Minutes. Similarly, Loretta Alkalay, a former lawyer for the Federal Aviation Administration, said, "I know that a lot of people talk about how they don't fly Allegiant, so it's very concerning."

Included in the report is an August 2015 incident at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas involving an Allegiant plane. According to the report, the pilot aborted taking off at the "last-second" while experiencing difficulty controlling the plane during takeoff. The plane was without a cotter pin which, according to the report, "holds together essential components necessary for the pilot to fly the plane."

On Monday Capt. Eric Gust, Vice President of Operation for Allegiant Air, called the story an "irresponsible, grossly misleading" report.

"The story is outdated, bears no resemblance to the Allegiant I know, and shows a real and troubling misunderstanding of the FAA's rigorous oversight of Allegiant and and all US airlines, which is truly the worldwide gold standard in transportation safety," Gust said.

FAA oversight of Allegiant is a major part of the 60 Minutes news piece. Alkalay called into question Allegiant's decision to fire a pilot following an emergency evacuation in 2015. The report states that the pilot made the decision to evacuate the plane after the cabin began filling with smoke. The pilot was fired for what Allegiant referred to as an "unwarranted" evacuation.

John Duncan, executive director of flight standards for the FAA, told 60 Minutes that the federal agency has not investigated the pilot's termination.

In a letter to CBS News, the FAA detailed its review of Allegiant's safety practices.

"In 2016, we moved up Allegiant's 2018 scheduled review, known as Certificate Holder Evaluation Process (CHEP). This review did not find any systemic safety or regulatory problems, but did identify a number of less serious issues, which Allegiant addressed...Since the 2016 CHEP, the FAA has conducted ongoing evaluations of Allegiant's safety compliance, as it does will all carriers, and has not identified any significant or systemic problems with the carrier's operation," wrote Ali Bahrami, associate administrator of aviation safety for FAA.

The FAA, as well as the 60 Minutes report, points out that the rate of incidents reported by Allegiant has been decreasing in recent months.

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is one of 21 locations where Allegiant offers service from. Flight records show Allegiant experienced a year-over-year passenger increase of four percent from February 2017 to February 2018. As of February's reported totals, Allegiant served 366,978 passengers from McCarran so far this year. Las Vegas is Allegiant's third busiest market, offering service to 54 locations across the country.

On Monday, Allegiant's stock closed down 4.65 points to 146.40. It plummeted from 147.3 to 140.0 as of noon eastern time, but recovered shortly before closing down three percent.

To read the full 60 Minutes report, click the following link: Allegiant Air: The Budget Airline Flying Under The Radar

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