Allegiant Settles With Pilots

Allegiant Air has settled a dispute with its pilots’ union, paving the way for a federal judge in Las Vegas to sign an order that permanently upholds an injunction against a strike or work slowdown.

The judge had issued a temporary order blocking a strike last year.

Allegiant had sued the Teamsters Union, which represents the pilots, over threats by the pilots to walk off the job. Pilots agreed not to strike over changes in the airline‘s crew scheduling system.

Separately, Allegiant announced Friday it will make Des Moines International Airport in Iowa its latest hub.

The low-cost carrier will invest $50 million in Des Moines, creating 66 new jobs at the airport from pilots to flight attendants to mechanics. In addition, it will expand its list of destinations available from the airport.

Allegiant will begin operating out of Des Moines in May of 2020.

“It stretches our network in ways that we haven’t been able to stretch before,” Allegiant spokesperson Hilarie Grey said. “So we’ll be able to fly to new places—places that you might not have thought possible from Des Moines.”

She did not say what the destinations were. From Des Moines, Allegiant currently flies to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and five locations in Florida. The expansion will nearly triple the number of current employees from 34 to 100.

Two of the airline’s 70-plus-seat aircraft, both Airbus A320s, will be based in Des Moines. Des Moines Area Community College has chipped in $600,000 to help train the company’s new employees.

“They’re living and working in the community, sending their kids to local schools, spending into the economy, joining neighborhood groups,” Grey said.

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