Allegiant Air gains in Las Vegas as rival airlines pull back
Allegiant Air is benefiting in its hometown of Las Vegas as some of its largest competitors pull back in Sin City.
At the city's Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), Allegiant seats are flat year over year in the fourth quarter while its competitors Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines are down 13% and 53%, respectively, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
Even Delta Air Lines, the second-largest carrier at LAS after Southwest Airlines, will end flights to two California airports — Sacramento International Airport (SMF) and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) — in January 2026.
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"Year over year, our performance in Vegas at Allegiant has improved, our margins have improved there," said Gregory Anderson, CEO of Allegiant, in an interview with TPG in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
The question now is whether Allegiant will move to capture some of the LAS share others are ceding. Earlier in September, Spirit said it would end service to eight airports from LAS, including Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Boise Airport (BOI) and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK).
Allegiant only serves one of the routes Spirit will discontinue — LAS-BOI — but Anderson did not dismiss the possibility that the airline could add flights in other markets.
"We're going to continue to strengthen our relative position," he said, referring broadly to Allegiant's position in the U.S. domestic market.
The airline industry has seen a period of upheaval in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontier has adjusted its schedules and improved its onboard offering to attract more lucrative business and higher-end leisure travelers. Spirit in August filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a year, promising to make tough route map, fleet and cost decisions.
And Avelo Airlines, the struggling Houston-based discounter that just ordered up to 100 new Embraer jets, said in July that it would end all West Coast flights by December.
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Allegiant has already made a move on one of Avelo's soon-to-be-former markets: Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR). Flights to Bellingham International Airport (BLI) in Washington and Provo Airport (PVU) in Utah begin in January.
Back in Las Vegas, the most recent data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority shows the number of visitors to the city fell 7% during the first six months of the year compared to 2024. Hotel nights fell roughly 6%.
Anderson acknowledged the decline but described the shift as something of a "tale of two cities."
"The premier properties, like the Wynn, they're having record years, then you go to the — for lack of a better term — lower-tier properties and you start to see them struggle quite a bit," he said.
Allegiant, like its competitors, has moved slightly upmarket in recent years. Its popular extra-legroom economy offering, Allegiant Extra, will be available on 75% of its fleet by the end of the year, and Anderson said that inflight Wi-Fi is a "when, not if" without providing additional details.
Despite Allegiant's bread-and-butter market being cost-conscious leisure flyers, Anderson was optimistic about its prospects at LAS.
"Vegas is resilient," he said. "I believe it'll continue to strengthen and get back to what we've seen historically."
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