Cites Difficulty Getting Newly-Acquired Airbus Airplanes Ready To Fly

Allegiant Airlines cancelled 26 flights late last week to and from Orlando-Sanford Airport (KSFB) and elsewhere across its network due to problems getting recently-acquired Airbus airplanes ready to fly.

The McClatchy news service reports that 20 of the flights affected routes that included destinations in Florida.

Allegiant spokeswoman Krysta Levy said in an email Thursday that "some of the delivery dates for aircraft scheduled to join our fleet have fallen short of the projections, leaving us with limited resources available and the very difficult choice to cancel certain flights."

She said that the problem was not with the manufacturing of the airplanes, but the "induction process" which includes inspections, new livery and interiors, and FAA registration. The airplanes are all A320 airplanes that have been previously flown by other airlines, according to the report.

Levy said that passengers on affected flights were being offered other flights or refunds.

Allegiant is transitioning to an all-A320 fleet which will include both new and used aircraft. The transition is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report