Allegiant catching up after flight delays
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air is catching up on its Friday flight schedule on Saturday after resolving a 7½-hour systemwide computer outage that forced airline personnel to check in passengers manually at airports across the country.
Allegiant officials said eight scheduled flights Friday were canceled and 18 others were rescheduled to fly Saturday affecting about 3,900 passengers. Most of the remaining 224 flights on the Friday schedule departed late.
Airline officials still haven’t determined what caused the glitch, which also affected Allegiant’s website and also prevented the company from texting customers to inform them of the problems.
The outage began at 5:25 a.m. and systems were restored by 1 p.m.
The 1,200 passengers whose flights were canceled are receiving a full refund for the price of their whole itinerary, a $300 voucher for future travel on the airline, and reimbursement of alternative transportation expenses.
The 2,700 passengers whose flights were pushed from Friday to Saturday are getting a full refund on the affected flight, a $200 voucher for future travel on the airline and reimbursement of Friday night hotel accommodations.
Passengers on flights that left late on Friday received free food and drinks — a departure for most Allegiant customers since the airline routinely charges for them.
While Friday is one of Allegiant’s busiest days of the week, spokesman Brian Davis said Saturdays are generally slower, which will enable the airline to catch up the schedule.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta.