Allegiant Air to get new CEO during challenging period

Allegiant Travel, the flight and leisure trip package seller, appointed its current president, John Redmond, as the company’s new CEO beginning June 1. Redmond, who has served as president for the past five years and been a board member for around 15, will replace current CEO Maurice Gallagher Jr. Gallagher, who is Allegiant’s largest shareholder after taking control of the airline in 2001, will transition from chairman to executive chairman. Allegiant’s announcement Monday about the changing of the guard at the CEO slot occurred coincidentally on the same day that Frontier announced it would merge with and take control of Spirit Airlines in a deal that values Spirit at $6.6b. That merger, if it secures regulatory approval this summer, could heighten competition among low-cost airlines. Frontier and Allegiant have well more than 100 overlapping routes, and Allegiant and Spirit fly the same routes minimally. Allegiant, though, is very much a hybrid airline and leisure travel package provider, bundling flights, hotels and car rentals so doesn’t compete with Frontier and Spirit in a significant way when it comes to trip packages. Allegiant is traditionally among the highest profiting US airlines, although in Q4 its net income fell 28% year over year to $10.7b. Executives cited the cost of compensating passengers for cancelled flights because of crew shortages and Covid disruptions as dragging down earnings. Story has more.<br/>