Allegiant Air (G4, Las Vegas Harry Reid) has announced a delay in the induction of its B737-8-200 fleet and a reduction in the number of expected deliveries from Boeing in 2024 due to the manufacturer’s quality issues and reduced output.
The budget carrier now expects to add only six B737-8-200s, all arriving in the second half of the year, down from the 12 that were scheduled at the start of the year.
“At the time of our last earnings call, we anticipated our first B737 MAX delivery to be in March. That aircraft, the first in Allegiant spec, is awaiting [Federal Aviation Administration] inspection, which will need to be completed before deliveries to Allegiant can begin. We now expect this aircraft to enter revenue service during the third quarter,” Robert Neal, SVP and chief financial officer, said during an earnings call on May 7.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that two aircraft, N810MG (msn 8838) and N812NV (msn 8917), will be Allegiant’s first B737-8-200s.
While the new twinjets will not enter into commercial service this quarter, Allegiant continues to incur significant expenses before the induction of the type in its thus-far Airbus-only narrowbody fleet. As Greg Anderson, the company’s president, put it: “We hire and train pilots, we plan our network, and we take on other preparation and infrastructure costs. These material headwinds are at a current run rate of roughly USD30 million annually to operating income.”
Despite the delay, Allegiant has still scheduled a debut for its first B737-8-200 for August 14, 2024, operating routes out of St. Petersburg/Clearwater and Orlando Sanford, ch-aviation research reveals.
Allegiant Air placed an order with Boeing for 50 MAX aircraft in late 2021, including twenty-four B737-7s and twenty-six 8-200s. It also has options for 80 additional airframes.
The carrier expects to close the year with 126 aircraft, including the six B737-8-200s, eighty-six A320-200s, and thirty-four A319-100s.
