Allegiant Q3 results up as the airline is “flirting with break-even”

Allegiant Travel Company, the parent of ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air, is “flirting with break-even” as point-to-point leisure travel rebounds faster than other parts of the passenger air transport industry after it came to a near-standstill earlier this year. The Las Vegas-based airline on 28 October reports a $29m loss on $201m revenue, down 54% year-on-year during Q3 2020. But as the quarter progressed, the airline was no longer burning cash like its peers, and saw up to $3m in new bookings per day in both September and October, Allegiant’s CFO Greg Anderson says. While average daily cash burn for the quarter was $1.3m, September was “cash-flow positive for the airline”, he adds. “We had a very good quarter,” says Maurice Gallagher, chairman CE of Allegiant Travel Company. “I’m happy to say that we can report some optimism... It appears the domestic leisure space will pull itself out of the pandemic in 2021.” Following the collapse of passenger demand in March, “it was the end of our history as we know it”, he adds. Except for the month of June “each consecutive month has improved since that time”.<br/>