We sympathize, because it’s difficult enough to get a nonstop from Vegas to Detroit –- at least one that isn’t scheduled for the convenience of vampires instead of real people. US Airways, on the other hand, runs a fairly sane schedule, unlike Northwest (they don’t call it "Northworst" for nothing).
The long and short of Allegiant’s problem was fuel costs. The airline specialized in providing nonstop flights to Vegas from secondary and tertiary markets neglected by other carriers. But it found itself on the short end of the (dip) stick when oil prices spiked. Lansing was Allegiant’s longest nonstop route, therefore its most fuel-consumptive. So when fuel rates began skyrocketing in 2007, Allegiant’s cost of flying from Lansing to Vegas and back escalated by 52%.
"Flying empty planes at high fuel costs is not a good business decision," company spokeswoman Tyri Squyres told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She characterized the affected routes as ones "where service was new and hadn’t cultivated a strong customer base."
By the time its last flight left Lansing on Jan. 4, 2008, Allegiant had been serving the Michigan state capital for almost five years. When it kicked off Lansing-Las Vegas service on July 10, 2003, Allegiant was offering the only nonstop service from Michigan to Sin City, save for flights out of Detroit. It flew MD-83s that accommodated 150 passengers and offered an introductory rate of $99.
At the time, Allegiant was turning a healthy profit -- $54 million in ’03, almost double that in ’04 –- and it made extra money by running Nevada charter flights for Harrah’s. It didn’t hurt the bottom line that Allegiant charged passengers $5 to check luggage and sold souvenirs en route. Beginning in February ’06, Allegiant began offering discounted Las Vegas Monorail fares, as well.
However, trouble signs were on the horizon. Profit for 2006 was only $4.5 million, the airline’s lowest in at least five years. On Dec. 20, 2007, Allegiant announced it was dropping six Vegas routes, including Lansing, Gulfport-Biloxi, and Springfield, Illinois. "They had everything going for them," lamented Frank Vala, chairman of the Springfield airport board, "but who would have thought there’d be $100-a-barrel oil?"
In the words of Allegiant CEO Maurice J. Gallagher Jr., service from Lansing to Vegas isn’t over, merely "indefinitely suspended." And Allegiant still offers 34 routes to Vegas (just not from Michigan) and nonstops from Lansing to Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida. So if casino gambling continues to expand in the Sunshine State ... who knows?
