CIRA on Allegiant: ‘The system worked, issues were corrected’

Posted on April 18, 2018

Central Illinois Regional Airport officials say they’ve had no problems with Allegiant Air. (WJBC file photo)

By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – The litany of reports of mechanical problems that have plagued Allegiant Air are old news, according to the Bloomington airport which has hosted the discount carrier since 2012.

Central Illinois Regional Airport Director Carl Olson told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin he’s heard from some concerned flyers since the ’60 Minutes’ report aired Sunday.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Olson and CIRA spokeswoman Fran Strebing on WJBC.

“That’s normal and that’s just human nature and I think we have to highlight the fact they are a very safe airline,” Olson said. “They continue to have their operating certificate, they continue to do well.

“They had some issues back in 2015 and 2016. Those were identified and those were corrected and they moved on.”

Olson said Allegiant has been a good partner for CIRA, flying 300,000 passengers since coming to Bloomington six years ago.

“They had operated an older fleet of aircraft,” Olson said. “It’s concerning, it’s obviously concerning, but it also shows the system worked and that the issues were corrected. It’s a safe airline I can tell you.”

Allegiant is one of three regional carriers at CIRA, offering non-stop flights twice a week to Orlando and St. Petersburg, Fla.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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