Allegiant Travel backs off on another West Coast route

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Allegiant Travel, the discount airline in its first year of serving Hawaii, has suspended its service from Santa Maria, California, citing lower bookings than it was counting on. The airline said it would resume flights later in the year.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant specializes in serving small cities that large airlines don't find it economical to serve, and often running only one or two flights a week. When business doesn't live up to projections, it moves quickly to discontinue flights, giving refunds to those who bought tickets.

In November, Allegiant canceled flights to Honolulu from Monterrey, California, literally before service began, because of low bookings. Next week Allegiant plans to end its service to Orlando for the same reason.

Santa Maria is on the northern edge of Santa Barbara County, California. Service was one flight weekly. Service will be suspended during February and the first half of March.

Allegiant said it plans to resume flights, and do more than one per week, in the summer.

This happens as Allegiant launches Honolulu flights from Boise, Idaho, and Spokane, Washington, two cities that have never enjoyed direct flights to Hawaii, as well as from Phoenix, which is already served by Hawaiian Airlines and US Airways.

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