Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant Air) today reported preliminary passenger traffic results for December 2021, fourth quarter 2021, and full year 2021.
“Fourth quarter scheduled capacity was up 14.5 percent as compared with 2019, in line with our initial expectations,” stated Drew Wells, senior vice president of revenue. “Despite a challenging operating environment during the Christmas holiday peak-period, we ended the quarter with a load factor of 78.8 percent, the highest since the onset of the pandemic. Although Omicron led to an uptick in customer cancellations, daily booking trends throughout the quarter consistently outperformed levels observed in 2019. This strength in bookings resulted in total operating revenue of roughly $496 million for the quarter, an increase of more than 7.5 percent when compared with 2019.”
“We are pleased to report that the fourth quarter will be our third consecutive quarter of profitability since the onset of the pandemic,” stated Gregory Anderson, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Despite operational challenges around holiday peak travel, we expect an adjusted1 EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter of roughly 19 percent. This margin includes nearly $23 million of irregular operations costs incurred during the quarter, the majority of which were incurred in December. Operational challenges were predominantly a result of crew shortages related to Omicron. Although these challenges continued into early January, we are beginning to see relief and expect significant improvement in the operation as the Omicron variant begins to dissipate.”
Scheduled Service – Year Over Two-Year Comparison | |||
December 2021 | December 2019 | Change | |
Passengers | 1,320,403 | 1,308,341 | 0.9% |
Revenue passenger miles (000) | 1,226,131 | 1,165,902 | 5.2% |
Available seat miles (000) | 1,556,101 | 1,411,107 | 10.3% |
Load factor | 78.8% | 82.6% | (3.8 pts) |
Departures | 9,801 | 9,423 | 4.0% |
Average stage length (miles) | 902 | 871 | 3.6% |
4th Quarter 2021 | 4th Quarter 2019 | Change | |
Passengers | 3,671,032 | 3,516,263 | 4.4% |
Revenue passenger miles (000) | 3,306,563 | 3,073,055 | 7.6% |
Available seat miles (000) | 4,288,133 | 3,745,031 | 14.5% |
Load factor | 77.1% | 82.1% | (5.0pts) |
Departures | 27,818 | 25,541 | 8.9% |
Average stage length (miles) | 876 | 856 | 2.3% |
YTD 2021 | YTD 2019 | Change | |
Passengers | 13,509,544 | 14,823,267 | (8.9%) |
Revenue passenger miles (000) | 11,963,715 | 13,038,003 | (8.2%) |
Available seat miles (000) | 17,027,902 | 15,545,818 | 9.5% |
Load factor | 70.3% | 83.9% | (13.6pts) |
Departures | 113,121 | 105,690 | 7.0% |
Average stage length (miles) | 862 | 859 | 0.3% |
Total System* – Year Over Two-Year Comparison | |||
December 2021 | December 2019 | Change | |
Passengers | 1,327,884 | 1,318,872 | 0.7% |
Available seat miles (000) | 1,586,060 | 1,453,592 | 9.1% |
Departures | 10,065 | 9,742 | 3.3% |
Average stage length (miles) | 896 | 868 | 3.2% |
4th Quarter 2021 | 4th Quarter 2019 | Change | |
Passengers | 3,731,034 | 3,585,966 | 4.0% |
Available seat miles (000) | 4,440,839 | 3,928,536 | 13.0% |
Departures | 29,193 | 27,088 | 7.8% |
Average stage length (miles) | 865 | 846 | 2.2% |
YTD 2021 | YTD 2019 | Change | |
Passengers | 13,637,405 | 15,012,149 | (9.2%) |
Available seat miles (000) | 17,490,571 | 16,174,240 | 8.1% |
Departures | 117,047 | 110,542 | 5.9% |
Average stage length (miles) | 856 | 855 | 0.1% |
Scheduled Service – Year Over Year Comparison | |||
December 2021 | December 2020 | Change | |
Passengers | 1,320,403 | 673,041 | 96.2% |
Revenue passenger miles (000) | 1,226,131 | 611,429 | 100.5% |
Available seat miles (000) | 1,556,101 | 1,128,200 | 37.9% |
Load factor | 78.8% | 54.2% | 24.6pts |
Departures | 9,801 | 7,281 | 34.6% |
Average stage length (miles) | 902 | 891 | 1.2% |
4th Quarter 2021 | 4th Quarter 2020 | Change | |
Passengers | 3,671,032 | 2,129,292 | 72.4% |
Revenue passenger miles (000) | 3,306,563 | 1,878,831 | 76.0% |
Available seat miles (000) | 4,288,133 | 3,226,050 | 32.9% |
Load factor | 77.1% | 58.2% | 18.9pts |
Departures | 27,818 | 21,399 | 30.0% |
Average stage length (miles) | 876 | 868 | 0.9% |
YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | Change | |
Passengers | 13,509,544 | 8,553,623 | 57.9% |
Revenue passenger miles (000) | 11,963,715 | 7,626,470 | 56.9% |
Available seat miles (000) | 17,027,902 | 12,814,080 | 32.9% |
Load factor | 70.3% | 59.5% | 10.8pts |
Departures | 113,121 | 85,276 | 32.7% |
Average stage length (miles) | 862 | 867 | (0.6%) |
Total System* – Year Over Year Comparison | |||
December 2021 | December 2020 | Change | |
Passengers | 1,327,884 | 679,424 | 95.4% |
Available seat miles (000) | 1,586,060 | 1,147,534 | 38.2% |
Departures | 10,065 | 7,471 | 34.7% |
Average stage length (miles) | 896 | 883 | 1.5% |
4th Quarter 2021 | 4th Quarter 2020 | Change | |
Passengers | 3,731,034 | 2,159,035 | 72.8% |
Available seat miles (000) | 4,440,839 | 3,315,599 | 33.9% |
Departures | 29,193 | 22,189 | 31.6% |
Average stage length (miles) | 865 | 860 | 0.6% |
YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | Change | |
Passengers | 13,637,405 | 8,623,984 | 58.1% |
Available seat miles (000) | 17,490,571 | 13,125,533 | 33.3% |
Departures | 117,047 | 87,955 | 33.1% |
Average stage length (miles) | 856 | 862 | (0.7%) |
*Total system includes scheduled service and fixed fee contract. System revenue passenger miles and system load factor are not useful statistics as system available seat miles include both ASMs flown by fixed fee flying as well as non-revenue producing repositioning flights used for operational needs. Fixed fee flying is better measured through dollar contribution versus operational statistics. |
Preliminary Financial Results | |
$ per gallon | |
December 2021 estimated average fuel cost per gallon – system | $2.37 |
$ per gallon | |
4th quarter 2021 estimated average fuel cost per gallon – system | $2.48 |
$ per gallon | |
Full year 2021 estimated average fuel cost per gallon – system | $2.15 |