WASHINGTON, July 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In advance of Allegiant Travel
Company's Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) 2024 second-quarter earnings
announcement tomorrow, Allegiant Air pilots and their union are
raising questions about the company's direction and decision-making
as pilots continue to work under an outdated labor agreement
negotiated in 2016. The 1,300-member pilot group is represented by
Teamsters Local 2118. Allegiant Air is a low-cost U.S. air carrier
focused on leisure travel.
"Allegiant pilots are proud to serve their customers and get
them safely to their destinations every day. They are invested in
Allegiant's success and are urging management to invest in pilots
as other airlines have done to prevent another avoidable labor
dispute with the carrier," said Captain Jim
Clark, Assistant Trustee at Local 2118.
Across the airline industry, pilots have secured significant
improvements to their working conditions and compensation in recent
years. However, as contract negotiations between Allegiant Air and
Teamsters Local 2118 enter their fourth year, Allegiant Air is
demanding that pilots agree to concessionary changes to their
schedules and other parts of their contract that impact quality of
work life to pay for increases in compensation that still leave
Allegiant pilots far behind their industry peers operating the same
type of aircraft.
The company's website states, "Las
Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel
company with an airline at its heart," but instead of making
investments in pilots the priority, Allegiant leaders have poured
money into other projects like The Sunseeker Resort hotel in
Charlotte Harbor, Florida. Following previously reported
significant cost overruns, the company's 2024 first quarter
Allegiant Travel Company's 8-K reported hotel losses and other
problems, such as low occupancy, alongside overall disappointing
earnings for the period.
"Given Allegiant's current struggles, why is company leadership
trying to provoke a labor dispute with its pilots that will only
harm the company and its brand?" asked Captain Clark. "At a time
when virtually all U.S.-based airlines have settled pilot contracts
that dramatically raise pay and address the need to retrain and
attract pilots through improved working conditions, Allegiant
continues the bargaining tactics of old, pushing not just a
substandard agreement, but stunningly concessionary in some areas
that have even some of the most senior pilots considering work
elsewhere."
If Allegiant Air is the "heart" of the Allegiant Travel Company,
as the marketing materials claim, pilots encourage investors to
tell company leaders to make investing in the airline and its
pilots—and the avoidance of a labor dispute—their highest priority.
Investors should also critically evaluate management's bargaining
tactics in their contract talks with pilots, as these highly
skilled professionals are essential to the growth of the airline
and the company's stock performance.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto
Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on
Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770)
262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters