Allegiant cancels flights as Irma approaches

Allegiant Air canceled 256 flights between Thursday and Sunday, affecting 31,387 passengers as Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida, airline officials said.

The Las Vegas-based budget carrier is bracing for a financial blow over the next several days, as more than half of Allegiant’s planes and passengers fly to Florida as a vacation destination.

“Obviously, we’re not going to fly when it’s not safe for our passengers, our staff and our air crew,” Allegiant spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said.

Allegiant canceled 10 flights on Thursday, with plans to cancel another 40 on Friday.

The carrier already had scrubbed all flights scheduled for Saturday and Sunday going in and out of Florida airports in Punta Gorda, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Sanford/orlando.

The carrier does not plan to reschedule any of those flights. Airline passengers traveling through any of those cities can request a one-time change to their travel plans without paying extra fees.

Airline executives will spend the next several days at Allegiant’s headquarters in Las Vegas to keep an eye on flights and weather patterns, Grey said.

Five outbound flights were added to Allegiant’s schedule this week to shuttle airline employees and passengers out of Irma’s path.

About 1,200 Allegiant employees based in Florida were allowed to tend to their homes and families to prepare for the hurricane, Grey said.

“It’s a big puzzle on how you shut down operations and make sure passengers and crew members are safe in an event like this,” Grey said.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @Amarroquin_ LV on Twitter.