St. Petersburg, FL -- A pair of emergency landings in two days at St. Petersburg / Clearwater International Airport has again raised questions about maintenance issues with the airport’s largest carrier, Allegiant Air.
The Federal Aviation Administration increased its scrutiny of Allegiant in April, citing a pair of incidents in Las Vegas last summer, moving up a full airline review that had been scheduled for 2018.
Melinda Kebreau, angered by Allegiant’s recent hydraulic issue, stood outside the airport asking, “When are you going to learn? When a plane falls out of the sky?”
Is the criticism fair?
The FAA doesn’t publish comparisons when it comes to airline maintenance issues, making it hard to compare Allegiant with other carriers.
The budget airline is still too small even for an independent site that annually ranks the top 60 airlines for safety.
But 10News WTSP aviation expert Mark Weinkrantz, also a pilot for a major carrier, says based on his experience Allegiant appears to have issues.
“We're talking about major operations out of Chicago, Atlanta or New York with the major carriers. And in 36 years I don't remember seeing two hydraulic leaks in one day,” he said.
Allegiant Spokesperson Jessica Wheeler says the second emergency landing stemmed from the crew's decision to return to the airport when it noticed fluctuations in the hydraulic fuel indicator when the same aircraft took off Thursday, and returned to the airport out of an abundance of caution.
"At no point did the hydraulic quantity drop below the minimum range needed for the aircraft," she said.
“The perception is, and my perception is, that they are having more incidents for a smaller operation. I work for a major operation and we don’t have this kind of thing going on,” said Weinkrantz.
Allegiant has repeatedly boasted a solid maintenance record, putting passenger safety first. The airline has blamed an ongoing dispute with its pilots for much of its negative publicity.
But some of the passengers 10News spoke with say they had no clue about Allegiant’s ongoing issues.
Yet, flying them again?
“I don’t think so, not after this experience,” said passenger Billy Smith.
Regardless of Smith’s feelings about Allegiant, the carrier’s planes are full and Allegiant boasts of the highest profit margins in the industry.
But to do that, Weinkrantz says, the airline will meet -- not exceed -- minimum standards in some areas. For example, flying older aircrafts. The majority of Allegiant’s fleet is comprised of aging MD-80s purchased for a fraction of the cost of a new Boeing 737.
“There aren't a lot of parts. And there are a lot of mechanics that work on their type of aircraft all the time,” said Weinkrantz.
Allegiant also uses fewer full-time workers per plane to save money, and schedules crews to return to their home hubs to avoid the expense of overnight hotel stays.
Spare parts aren’t available at all hubs, they’re centralized.
And maintenance, particularly at smaller airports, might be contracted out.
“Do you want to go for the minimum standard when it comes to an operation that involves life and death?” asked Weinkrantz.
"The airline exceeds all minimum standards," said Wheeler.
The FAA’s stepped-up scrutiny of Allegiant continues through the end of June.
“The FAA will go through all the logbooks. All the write ups. And all the incidents, and come up with their decision,” said Weinkrantz. “If there's something to find, I believe the FAA will find it.”
