Allegiant orders 50 Boeing Max jets, ending all-Airbus fleet

Allegiant Airlines agreed to buy 50 Boeing Co. 737 Max aircraft, reversing a strategy of keeping costs low by flying only Airbus SE planes that it typically leased or purchased used.

Allegiant—which operates a major base in Indianapolis that it opened in 2017—is buying two variants of the Max to be delivered from 2023 through 2025, the airline’s parent, Las Vegas-based Allegiant, said in a statement Wednesday. The carrier has options to purchase an additional 50 aircraft.

Allegiant offers heavily discounted, bare-bones fares, charging for items such as coffee and bottled water.

“Our approach to fleet has always been opportunistic, and this exciting transaction with Boeing is no exception,” Allegiant CEO Maurice Gallagher said in the statement.

The new planes will provide flexibility on capacity growth decisions and aircraft retirements, Allegiant said, along with lower emissions and modern cabin features. The carrier is taking Max 737-7 and 737-8-200 models.

The order could provide planes for flights to Mexico that Allegiant plans to add under an alliance announced last month with Mexico’s Grupo Viva Aerobus. The discounters intend to jointly plan fares, flight schedules and routes between them, with flights starting as soon as the first quarter of 2023.

For Boeing, the purchase takes some of the sting out of December losses, when long-time customers Qantas and Air France-KLM selected Airbus jets over the Max for their narrow-body fleets.

Allegiant bought new aircraft for the first time in July 2016 when it agreed to purchase 12 Airbus A320s to speed its shift to a single fleet and shed older Boeing planes. The airline completed the transition to one manufacturer in late 2018. Changing that model will boost training costs for pilots, mechanics and other workers, as well as require keeping a bigger parts inventory.

Allegiant operated 106 Airbus A319s and A320s at the end of September. It has projected having 127 aircraft in service by the end of this year. The carrier focuses primarily on flying to U.S. tourist destinations, adjusting its schedule daily for demand, and offers travel packages that include hotel booking, car rental and other related services.

The duel between Boeing and Airbus has taken on particular urgency as airlines chart fleet plans to match demand that is expected to surge once the coronavirus pandemic fades. Carriers are also scrapping older jetliners in favor of more fuel-efficient, lower-emission models to address concerns about climate change.

Such plans, plus a fair number of Max jets available for near-term delivery, last year helped Chicago-based Boeing notch its largest annual sales tally since 2018. While final 2021 figures haven’t been released, Boeing had landed 829 gross orders through the end of November, more than the previous two years combined.