It's only a matter of time before an Allegiant plane crashes

[CommuterBob]

http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2016/investigations/allegiant-air/mechanical-breakdowns/

"All major airlines break down once in awhile. But none of them break down in midair more often than Allegiant.

A Tampa Bay Times investigation — which included a first-of-its kind analysis of federal aviation records — has found that the budget carrier’s planes are four times as likely to fail during flight as those operated by other major U.S. airlines.

In 2015, Allegiant jets were forced to make unexpected landings at least 77 times for serious mechanical failures.

None of the 77 incidents prompted enforcement action from the Federal Aviation Administration, which doesn’t compare airline breakdown records to look for warning signs.

• Forty-two of Allegiant’s 86 planes broke down in mid-flight at least once in 2015. Among them were 15 forced to land by failing engines, nine by overheating tail compartments and six by smoke or the smell of something burning.
• After certain systems on Allegiant planes fail, the company repairs them and puts the planes back in service, only to see the same systems fail again. Eighteen times last year, key parts such as engines, sensors and electronics failed once in flight, got checked out, and then failed again, causing another unexpected landing.
• Allegiant’s jets are, on average, 22 years old. The average age of planes flown by other carriers is 12. Experts say planes as old as Allegiant’s require the most rigorous maintenance in the industry. But Allegiant doesn’t staff its own mechanics at 107 of the 118 airports it flies to.
• Allegiant relies most heavily on McDonnell Douglas MD-80s, an aging model retired by all but two other major U.S. carriers. The company’s MD-80s fail twice as often as those operated by American Airlines and three times as often as those flown by Delta."

 

[cnsaguy]

I hope not. Have a friend that flies for them.

 

[UCFWayne]

Wow thats crazy. I have considered flying them in the past because of the price, but I wont any longer.

 

[CommuterBob]

Most of the damning data in the report is from 2015, and it's gotten a little better in 2016, but not significantly better:

"From January to June 2015, they had 58 mechanical failures, records show. From January to June of this year, a period that overlaps with the FAA’s review of Allegiant, they had 33.

But the same records show breakdowns continue. This July alone, Allegiant had nine unexpected landings caused by mechanical failures, compared to 12 last July."

 

[NinjaKnight]

meh

 

[Bob the Citronaut]

How many flights do they have a year? 77 breakdowns doesn't seem like a lot. Our four crane trucks have breakdowns/repairs at least half that many times a year just by themselves and they're all 2006 and newer.

 

[CommuterBob]

How many flights do they have a year? 77 breakdowns doesn't seem like a lot. Our four crane trucks have breakdowns/repairs at least half that many times a year just by themselves and they're all 2006 and newer.

That's only mid-air breakdowns. And Allegiant doesn't fly as often as other carriers, but we can compare them like this an a breakdown of unexpected landings per 10,000 flights:


"The average U.S. airline has about three unexpected landings caused by mechanical problems for every 10,000 times it flies, the Times found.

Southwest had the lowest rate of problems last year. It had about one in 10,000 flights end in unexpected landings.

JetBlue was in the middle of the pack. It had about three flights end in unexpected landings.

American Airlines had one of the highest rates. It had five.

Allegiant had 12."

 

[UCFBS]

Yep, I refuse to fly Allegiant right now, and haven't since 2014. They used to just have MD-80 series and had FAA Diamond rating in maintenance last decade. Then they expanded and went to no less than 5 different aircraft, resulting in a total mess in maintenance. That said, Allegiant is finally going all A320 series over the next decade. They have mainly used on-order, but are ordering new aircraft as well. So give them 5-7 years and they'll be better.

Southwest is finally retiring nearly all their 737-300 series. They have all 737-700, 800, including all of AirTran's former options (which were a steal since they were originally MD95/717s and sold at a discount) and are taking possession of some new submodels like the 737-900ER. But they've also pushed back their 737-MAX to 2023. This means that Southwest has basically admitted their growth has ended, so they are sticking with the existing aircraft. The 737-MAX will be delivered 2023-2028 when the cycles on their oldest 737-700/800 models will be depleted.

JetBlue runs both A320 series, plus some of the Embraer EJ-190/195. The latter found a huge uptick in sales when Boeing killed the MD95/717 because they never marketed, fearing it competed too much with the 737. I don't like the Embraer products, as they've had their sets of issues, but they are slowly getting better. The fact that JetBlue still runs into issues with them is why I try to only fly JetBlue when it's an Airbus aircraft.

American's issues will get better now that they are finally retiring their very old MD80s, and are slowly getting rid of the 757 and others that are at the end of their cycles. They are also not holding on to their EJ-190s, retiring them in 2019, despite them not being that old. It seems American, like the other 2 of the "Big 3" (American, Delta, United), are content to stick with "Codeshare" puddle jumper partners with their underpaid pilots.

For this reason, I continue to fly Southwest and JetBlue. I don't like any airline with Codeshare pilots who are well underpaid and live out of Airbnbs.

 

[Happy Hands]

Yep, I refuse to fly Allegiant right now, and haven't since 2014. They used to just have MD-80 series and had FAA Diamond rating in maintenance last decade. Then they expanded and went to no less than 5 different aircraft, resulting in a total mess in maintenance. That said, Allegiant is finally going all A320 series over the next decade. They have mainly used on-order, but are ordering new aircraft as well. So give them 5-7 years and they'll be better.

Southwest is finally retiring nearly all their 737-300 series. They have all 737-700, 800, including all of AirTran's former options (which were a steal since they were originally MD95/717s and sold at a discount) and are taking possession of some new submodels like the 737-900ER. But they've also pushed back their 737-MAX to 2023. This means that Southwest has basically admitted their growth has ended, so they are sticking with the existing aircraft. The 737-MAX will be delivered 2023-2028 when the cycles on their oldest 737-700/800 models will be depleted.

JetBlue runs both A320 series, plus some of the Embraer EJ-190/195. The latter found a huge uptick in sales when Boeing killed the MD95/717 because they never marketed, fearing it competed too much with the 737. I don't like the Embraer products, as they've had their sets of issues, but they are slowly getting better. The fact that JetBlue still runs into issues with them is why I try to only fly JetBlue when it's an Airbus aircraft.

American's issues will get better now that they are finally retiring their very old MD80s, and are slowly getting rid of the 757 and others that are at the end of their cycles. They are also not holding on to their EJ-190s, retiring them in 2019, despite them not being that old. It seems American, like the other 2 of the "Big 3" (American, Delta, United), are content to stick with "Codeshare" puddle jumper partners with their underpaid pilots.

For this reason, I continue to fly Southwest and JetBlue. I don't like any airline with Codeshare pilots who are well underpaid and live out of Airbnbs.

Southwest retired the 737-500s the 300s will be next year. All the 717s they gave to Delta.

 

[UCFBS]

Southwest retired the 737-500s

Yes, the FAA made them do that a few years back. Southwest really makes me wonder sometimes, but for the next 3 years (2017-2019), especially with the recent pilots agreement, they will likely be the safest and most on-time airline compared to the "Big 3" (American, Delta, United).

the 300s will be next year.

They slipped under 100 active some 12 months ago, and I know they were down to only 30-40 recently. I hated flying those things. But the only time I end up on one today is when they have to fly in a replacement plane.

All the 717s they gave to Delta.

Yep, didn't want to deal with the lack of part commonality. The MD-95 (717) wasn't even that common to the MD-80/90 series, although that's also why they were so good on departure times and reliability.

AirTran got their 717 options turned into 737s and at a major discount. Southwest got AirTran for a steal, and new 737s for an even bigger steal. I remember them buying them after AirTran posted their 2nd profitable quarter in a row.