Allegiant Air maintains presence in Las Vegas as competitors reduce flights

Spirit Airlines recently announced it would end service to eight airports from Las Vegas, including Albuquerque International Sunport, Boise Airport and Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport. While Allegiant currently serves only the LAS-BOI route among those being cut by Spirit, Anderson did not rule out adding more routes. "We're going to continue to strengthen our relative position," he said.

The broader airline industry continues to adjust following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontier has shifted its schedule and enhanced onboard offerings targeting business travelers and higher-end leisure passengers. Meanwhile, Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time within a year and has signaled it will make significant changes to its operations.

Avelo Airlines also plans to exit all West Coast markets by December after announcing an order for up to 100 new Embraer jets earlier this year. In response, Allegiant has added flights between Hollywood Burbank Airport and both Bellingham International Airport in Washington state and Provo Airport in Utah beginning January.

Las Vegas itself is experiencing a decline in tourism numbers. Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority indicates that visitor numbers dropped 7% during the first half of this year compared with 2024 figures; hotel stays decreased about 6%.

Anderson addressed these trends: "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 has been moving toward attracting more upscale travelers. Its extra-legroom product “Allegiant Extra” will be available on three-quarters of its fleet by year-end. Anderson also noted inflight Wi-Fi is forthcoming but provided no specific timeline: he described it as a "when, not if."

Despite focusing primarily on cost-conscious leisure travelers historically, Anderson remains positive about future prospects at LAS: "Vegas is resilient," he said. "I believe it'll continue to strengthen and get back to what we've seen historically."