LONDON – On October 20, international aircraft lessor Air Lease Corporation (ALC), announced the delivery of a tenth Airbus A320 to Allegiant Air. The delivery marks itself a the final of ten aircraft to be delivered to Allegiant, from Air Lease Corporation (ALC)
The delivery
Formerly on lease with Alaska Airlines, Allegiant has taken delivery of now ten used Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-aircraft, following a lease agreement for ten A320’s by Allegiant and Air Lease Corporation, as well as a replacement agreement between Alaska Airlines and ALC, replacing their Airbus A320 fleet with Boeing 737-900 aircraft.
On the delivery, Chairman of Air Lease Corporation, Steven Udvar-Házy, commented: “ALC is pleased to announce this tenth A320 delivery to Allegiant,” to which he further added: “These ten young A320s are providing valuable service to Allegiant’s growing fleet with advanced technology and fuel-efficiency.”
Allegiant, who currently operates a big sized fleet of Airbus aircraft, now rounds up to a total of 126 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, with two more planned (planespotters.net).
Allegiant’s 737 MAX order
Allegiant also made themselves headlines in the aviation market earlier this year, announcing their order of one hundred Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Alike Ryanair, Allegiant will operate the Boeing 737-8-200. However, Allegiant will also operate regular Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft besides the 8-200 aircraft.
At the time of order, Allegiant Travel Company CEO and Chairman, Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., commented:- “Our approach to the fleet has always been opportunistic, and this exciting transaction with Boeing is no exception.”
About Air Lease Corporation
Air Lease Corporation (ALC) is a 12-year-old aircraft lessor headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Air Lease Corporation lease out aircraft that they receive on direct orders from aircraft manufacturers, such as Boeing, Airbus, ATR and Embraer. The lessees of ALC’s aircraft pay for all the expenses that arise during the time of the lease.
Example airlines with aircraft leased through ALC include:
- Corendon Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- HiSky Airlines
- Sichuan Airlines
In 2018, ALC were said to own 271 aircraft, and having a further 391 on order.
About Allegiant Air
Allegiant Air is an American ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), operating scheduled and chartered flight across the North America region, in which it’s marked as the fourteenth biggest airline in commercial operations.
It was founded back in 1997, and is fully owned by Allegiant Travel Company. Today, Allegiant is headquartered and operates from a great amount of bases, such as; Las Vegas (LAS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Indianapolis (IND) and Orlando Sandford (SFB).
Acting as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), is John Redmond, who runs the airline besides Scott Sheldon, the Vice President and COO of Allegiant.
Overall
It seems Allegiant are continuing to build their fleet step-by-step, although the fleet size is already passed the 100-plane-mark. With Allegiant also using a strategy of owning used planes, the 10 ex. Alaska Airlines deliveries doesn’t come as a shock
Regarding the 737 MAX orders as well, it’s not unlikely that the total fleet of Allegiant will remain under 200, following the possible retirements of their older airframes, to which the 737 MAX will be a great, efficient and more sustainable replacement.
