Allegiant shares fall after ‘60 Minutes’ report
LAS VEGAS — Shares of Allegiant Air’s parent company fell Monday after a news report that is raising serious safety questions about the low-cost carrier.
Allegiant is defending its safety and says the report by CBS News’ “60 Minutes” tells a “false narrative” about the airline. Investors, however, fear that the negative publicity will cause travelers to avoid Allegiant, which has a fleet including many older planes that typically require
“60 Minutes” reported Sunday night that from January 2016 to October 2017, the Las Vegas-based airline experienced more than 100 serious mechanical incidents, including aborted takeoffs, loss of cabin pressure and emergency landings.
CBS said that detailed reports from the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that Allegiant flights were three-and-ahalf times more likely to more maintenance. suffer an in-flight breakdown than flights operated by American, United, Delta, JetBlue or Spirit.
The report also aired a long-running accusation by the Teamsters union local representing Allegiant pilots that the airline discourages pilots from reporting mechanical problems with planes.
Allegiant issued a statement by Eric Gust, vice president of operations, charging that the CBS story told a “false narrative” about Allegiant and the FAA. He said the airline complies with all FAA requirements and takes part in many voluntary safety programs and is subject to “rigorous oversight” by the FAA.
“To suggest that Allegiant would engage in the practice of asking team members to violate company and regulatory obligations is offensive and defamatory,” Gust said.
Shares of parent company Allegiant Travel Co. fell $4.65, or 3 percent, to $146.40 in trading Monday.