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An Allegiant Air flight slows down on the tarmac after landing at the Provo Municipal Airport on Thursday, April 16, 2020.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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John Curtis, then the mayor of Provo City, stands alongside Keith Hansen, left, director of airports with Allegiant Air, speaks to an audience gathered during a press conference held at the Provo Airport Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2012 announcing upcoming Allegiant Air flights.

Mark Johnston, Daily Herald file photo

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A notice is posted within the terminal at the Provo Municipal Airport on Thursday, April 16, 2020.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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In the world of airports, code letters are significant — who doesn’t know where LAX or JFK are located? More importantly, do you know where PVU is?

Allegiant Air, a seven-year partner with Provo, most certainly knows where PVU is and flies in and out almost daily.

PVU are the call letters for the Provo Municipal Airport, now officially changed to the Provo Airport.

In 2013, the Allegiant network planning team recognized the population in Utah was quickly growing and entered the Provo market at Provo Airport. They know their passengers love the convenience of a local airport as an alternative to one dominated by a legacy carrier, according to Allegiant promotional information.

The most popular flight is to the Phoenix/Mesa, Arizona, airport with airplanes filled up to 90% every flight out of Provo.

“Serving PVU has allowed us to keep our fares low, offering families the opportunity to fly more often to see friends and take vacations,” said Sonya Padgett, with Allegiant media relations.

On April 28, Allegiant announced that Provo will now house four of its planes and become a “hub” for the airline. The Las Vegas-based company will invest approximately $95 million to establish the new base of operations, creating at least 157 new, high-wage jobs.

From Provo (PVU), Allegiant currently flies 14 times weekly to the Phoenix area and twice weekly to Austin, Texas, (AUS); Houston, Texas, (HOU); Orange County, California, (SNA); and St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida, (PIE).

Promotional material describes Allegiant Air as a leisure-focused airline that links travelers in small to medium-sized cities to world-class vacation destinations with nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. It also flies a low-frequency schedule (most routes tend to operate two times a week, though the airline has some with greater frequency) and has the ability to ramp capacity up and down seasonally according to demand, according to Padgett.

“For example, our peak flying season is summer, but many of our routes will take a hiatus in September with ‘back to school’ season, as people aren’t taking vacations at that time,” she said. “We also build our schedule around vacationers’ travel patterns, so Thursday/Friday and Sunday/Monday are busier travel days, while Tuesdays tend to be lighter days.”

“We believe we are well-positioned to grow our service to the markets we currently serve as well as add future seasonal and year-round destinations in the coming years,” Padgett added.

“Unlike most airlines which operate on a hub-and-spoke system, we fly an ‘out and back’ network where crews originate at a base, do their day of flying and return to base every night,” Padgett said. “This is also a benefit for our crew members, who get to sleep in their own beds at night, see their families and truly live in their base communities.”

Allegiant was founded in 1997 in Fresno, California. In 1999, the company began scheduled passenger service between Fresno and Las Vegas utilizing a DC-9 aircraft. In December 2000, Allegiant filed for bankruptcy and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr., the major creditor of the airline, gained control of the business during reorganization. In June 2001, Gallagher restructured the airline to a low-cost model and moved the headquarters and operations to Las Vegas, where they remain today.

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