Allegiant Air

Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1997 and is wholly owned by Allegiant Travel Company, a publicly traded company with 4,000 employees and over US$2.6 billion market capitalization . The corporate headquarters are in Summerlin, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas. History Establishment Allegiant Air was founded in January 1997 by Mitch Allee (owner, CEO), Jim Patterson (president), Capt. Jim Schmidt (Director of Operations) and Capt. Dave Beadle (chief pilot) under the name WestJet Express. After losing a trademark dispute with Westjet Air Center of Rapid City, South Dakota, and recognizing the name's similarity to WestJet Airlines of Calgary, Alberta, the airline adopted the name Allegiant Air and received FAA and US DOT certification for scheduled and charter domestic operations on June 19, 1998. The airline also has authority for charter service to Canada and Mexico.