Allegiant Travel Company has reported preliminary passenger traffic results for February 2022.
"After a slow start to the quarter, attributable to the Omicron variant, we saw a significant step-up in leisure demand beginning mid-February and persisting into March," stated Drew Wells, senior vice president, revenue. "We finished February with a load factor of 77.8 percent, a more than eight-point improvement over January. Load factor during the month of March is currently trending above levels observed in 2019, with several weeks exceeding 90 percent booked loads, marking the first time we've seen loads at this level since the onset of the pandemic. In addition, yields are strong with March TRASM tracking in line with March of 2019. Due to recent weather events and staffing challenges, we have lowered our quarterly capacity guidance and now expect ASMs to be up roughly 18 percent year over three-year. Given yield strength, we expect total revenue to come in on the high-end of our initial revenue guide."
"Despite decreased capacity for the quarter, we continue to expect CASM, excluding fuel, to fall within our initial range," stated Gregory Anderson, executive vice president, chief financial officer. "Recent spikes in jet fuel prices have resulted in an updated fuel cost per gallon for the first quarter of roughly $3.05. Due predominantly to the volatile fuel environment as well as some staffing challenges, we expect to reduce planned capacity by roughly ten percent for the second quarter. We will continue to manage capacity to maximize profitability.