Allegiant Air, the low-cost carrier known for connecting secondary cities to leisure destinations, is still trying to figure out the Hawaii market 16 months after initiating mainland flights to the islands.
The Las Vegas-based carrier, which on Wednesday announced its 43rd consecutive quarterly profit, has been adding and subtracting routes to Hawaii in an attempt to find a successful formula.
Andrew Levy, president of parent Allegiant Travel Co., said the airline still has more work to do.
"What we first need to do is get the guts of the operation running the way we want it to, and that really is more about capacity allocation, when we fly, where we fly, what’s seasonal, what’s year-round," Levy said on an earnings conference call. "That’s really where the focus is, it has been and remains. Driving some more hotels and things like that, that’s obviously helpful, but … we got to get the foundation working the way we want it to … and then we can turn our attention to other ideas that will enhance things."
Allegiant, which entered the Hawaii market in June 2012 with service from Las Vegas and Fresno, Calif., at one time had planned service to the islands from 10 destinations. But Monterey-Honolulu was canceled before it started and routes from seven of the remaining nine cities were later suspended.
Cities with suspended routes were Boise, Idaho; Spokane, Wash.; Eugene, Ore.; Phoenix; and the California cities of Fresno, Stockton and Santa Maria.
Today, Allegiant flies twice a week nonstop from Las Vegas to Honolulu and twice a week nonstop from Bellingham, Wash., to both Honolulu and Kahului.
In July, Allegiant said it would diverge from its secondary city model and offer two-day-a-week service from Los Angeles to Honolulu beginning next Wednesday.
Allegiant also plans to restore once-a-week service in mid-December from Spokane and Boise.
The company’s string of profits continued in the third quarter as it reported that net income rose 1 percent to $17.1 million, or 91 cents a share, from $16.9 million, or 87 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 5.5 percent to $228.9 million from $216.9 million.
