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.”

Allegiant Travel Company today reported the following financial results for the third quarter 2021, as well as comparisons to the prior years:

“We finished the quarter with earnings per share of $2.18, our second consecutive quarter of profitability since the onset of the pandemic,” stated Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company. “Third quarter total operating revenue was up 5.3 percent year over two-year making us one of the only domestic carriers to grow revenue from pre-pandemic levels. While demand was strong during our peak summer travel period, we experienced a slowdown as the delta variant spiked, but have since seen the demand curve ramp back up. Yields held up nicely, considering the effects of the delta variant, down less than six percent on scheduled service capacity increases of 17 percent. Third-party revenue continues to outperform, up 32.0 percent on a per passenger basis compared with 2019.

“Despite the favorable revenue environment, the operation continues to present challenges, as noted by several of our peers as well. Prior to COVID, the operation was a well-oiled machine – things ran smoothly. Fast forward to today, and we are operating in a different environment. The over-heated economy, continuing impacts of COVID, plus difficult labor environment created a perfect storm of challenges, including cancellations and delays over the past several months. We have a strong compensation approach for our interrupted passengers. We reimburse our customers for the inconvenience we have caused via prepaid credit cards or ACH deposits. Given the volume of our interruptions this past quarter, this was a meaningful amount. As a result, our third quarter adjusted CASM, excluding fuel, was 6.97 cents, 4.3 percent higher year over two-year. Excluding these costs for irregular operations, I was pleased that our adjusted CASM, excluding fuel was below the third quarter of 2019. As we head into the holiday season, job one is managing our operational integrity. We’ve scaled back on some peak day travel to mitigate the risk of cancellations. We now expect fourth quarter capacity to be up 12 percent from 2019.

“In regards to 2022 growth plans, it’s too early to provide specific numbers. At a minimum, growth will mirror our historical low, double-digit rate. However, if fuel continues to increase, we will moderate capacity accordingly. Uncertainty around the labor market is another growth factor we are watching. In the coming months, we will closely monitor the operational environment and our personnel availability. The flexibility of our model will continue to be vital as we respond to these differing environmental factors. We will have more insights at our next call.

“Although we have faced recent operational challenges, the business is in great shape. The balance sheet is stronger than ever with total liquidity of $1.1 billion and net debt of roughly $500 million. We’ve proven the resiliency of the model in both good times and bad, including high fuel cost environments. I am optimistic about the future. Our runway of potential routes continues to exceed 1,000. We’ve identified untapped revenue potential within third-party sales and are pleased to see positive trends from our newly launched loyalty program, Allways Rewards – both will contribute bottom line results in the coming years. Additionally, we resumed construction on Sunseeker Resorts with an anticipated opening date during the first quarter of 2023 as well as closed on $350 million of construction financing. We are excited to see this project come to fruition.

“The last several months have been challenging for our team members. The operational environment has created added stress, yet they have continued to work hard, putting our customers’ needs and safety first. I cannot thank them enough for their efforts. Relief is on the horizon as we are aggressively hiring more frontline employees. The future for Allegiant is very bright. We would not be in the favorable position we find ourselves in today without our team members’ hard work and dedication.”

Third Quarter 2021 Results

• GAAP diluted earnings per share of $2.18
  • Adjusted diluted earnings per share^{(1) (2) (3)} of $0.66
• Consolidated EBITDA^{(2) (3)} of $112.5 million yielding an EBITDA margin of 24.5 percent
  • Adjusted EBITDA^{(1) (2) (3)} of $77.7 million yielding an adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.9 percent
• Total operating revenue was $459.5 million, up 5.3 percent when compared with the third quarter of 2019
  • One of the first domestic carriers to achieve year over two-year revenue increases since the onset of the pandemic
  • Yield remained strong throughout the quarter down only 5.9 percent year over two-year on scheduled service capacity increases of 17.0 percent
• Total average fare of $116.91, up 7.2 percent year over two-year
  • Total ancillary average fare of $64.85, up 18.2 percent from 2019 driven primarily by air ancillary bundles, website redesign, rental car rate strength, and increased cobrand activity
• Continued sequential improvement in load factor, which came in at 76.6 percent, up 6 percentage points from the second quarter
  • Third quarter peak period load factor exceeded 80 percent
  • TRASM of 10.40 cents, down 6.3 percent year over two-year on scheduled service capacity increases of 17.0 percent
• Adjusted operating CASM, excluding fuel of 6.97 cents, up 4.3 percent when compared with the third quarter of 2019, driven primarily by costs related to increased irregular operations

Third Quarter 2021 Highlights

• Expanded the network by adding 25 new routes with one new city, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and two new bases, Appleton and Flint, bringing total routes served to 598 and 132 cities
  • List of potential incremental routes to add to the network continues to exceed 1,000
• Allegiant World Mastercard voted USA Today Readers’ Choice Best Airline Co-Branded Credit Card for the third consecutive year
  • Full-year 2021 total revenue related to the cobrand program on track to outpace 2019
  • Two months during the third quarter ranked in the top five highest cardholder acquisition months since the inception of the program in 2016
  • Completed the quarter with nearly 275 thousand active cardholders, up 49 percent from the third quarter of 2019
  • Average annual spend for cardholders is more than twice that of non-cardholders
• Launched the Allways Rewards program during the quarter with over 13 million active members
• Partnered with Women In Aviation Las Vegas to sponsor Girls in Aviation Day at McCarran International Airport
• Resumed providing in-kind travel for Make-A-Wish kids and their families during the third quarter

(1) Adjusted numbers exclude COVID related special charges, the net benefit from the payroll support programs, and bonus accruals
(2) Denotes a non-GAAP financial measure.
(3) Refer to the Non-GAAP Presentation section within this document for further information

Balance Sheet, Cash and Liquidity

• Total cash and investments at September 30, 2021 were $1.1 billion
• Received $21 million federal tax refund related to 2020 net operating losses
  • Received $116 million in federal tax refunds in October related to 2020 net operating losses
• Debt principal payments of $40 million during the quarter
• $40 million used for cash capital expenditures
• Third quarter interest expense of $17 million, down 15 percent year over two-year
• Air traffic liability at September 30, 2021 was $352 million
  • Balance related to future scheduled flights is $246 million
  • Balance related to travel vouchers issued for future use is $106 million, a 19 percent reduction from June 30, 2021

Capital Expenditures

• Third quarter capital expenditures related to aircraft, engines and induction costs were $9 million and $18 million in other airline capital expenditures
  • $9 million related primarily to aircraft induction costs
• Third quarter expenditures related to deferred heavy maintenance were $15 million

Sunseeker Resort

• Resumed construction with an anticipated completion date of the first quarter of 2023
• Secured financing with Castlelake, L.P. to fund up to $350 million of construction with $175 million expected to be drawn by the end of October
• Third quarter capital expenditures related to the project were $13 million

Aircraft Fleet Plan by End of Period

The table above is provided based on the company’s current plans and is subject to change

In other news, the airline announced new routes from Akron/Canton:

Allegiant Air today announced that maintenance technician and related employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) have voted to ratify their first collective bargaining agreement with the company.

The contract is effective from the date of ratification – October 26, 2021 – for a five-year term.  Allegiant currently employs 415 maintenance technician and related employees – a group which includes line and heavy maintenance technicians, as well as stores employees and some administrative maintenance staff.

The process of negotiating a first collective bargaining agreement for Allegiant maintenance technician and related employees began in January 2019. The parties had temporarily suspended negotiations due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and talks resumed in September 2020. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was most recently certified as the group’s exclusive representative on March 7, 2018.