Allegiant Air cancels additional flight at St. Pete-Clearwater International

Allegiant Air's troubles continued Tuesday when it canceled a flight out of St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport due to an unspecified "maintenance issue," the airline confirmed.

The Las Vegas-headquartered airline has now canceled about 14 flights arriving or departing at the airport since the emergency landing of one of its aircraft on June 17 due to a pressurization problem. That was the second Allegiant emergency landing at the airport this month.

One cancellation, Flight 893, pushed away from a St. Pete-Clearwater gate Friday at 8:17 p.m. but was forced to return before takeoff due to a "maintenance" issue that the airline refused to detail.

All the canceled flights appear to have been rescheduled within a day.

"With the summer heat, the extra demand on our aircraft and the pace of operations during peak travel periods comes commensurate mechanical issues and other unusual service interruptions," Allegiant said in a statement emailed to the Tampa Bay Times. "Our overall safety record continues to be one of the best in the industry, and we continue to operate every flight with the safety of our passengers and crew the number one priority."

The latest cancellation involved Flight 816, which was scheduled to depart St. Pete-Clearwater Tuesday at 7:40 a.m. and arrive at Huntington, W. Va., at 9:34 a.m. The flight will instead depart today at 3:40 p.m.

The return leg, Flight 817, which was scheduled to depart Huntington later in the day, was also canceled and rescheduled for today.

Allegiant said passengers of the flights will receive an $8 meal voucher, $100 toward a future flight and hotel accommodations if they do not live locally.

The budget airline has drawn considerable bad publicity in recent months. Allegiant has been involved in long labor dispute with its pilots. And in April, a report by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Aviation Mechanics Coalition listed flights delayed by mechanical issues nationwide between September and March, nine involving St. Pete-Clearwater International.

Allegiant's fleet includes about 70 planes with an average age of 22 years, according to the report, making it among the oldest in the country.

St. Pete-Clearwater International isn't the only airport with Allegiant cancellations. The airline canceled 13 other flights Monday at airports around the nation, according to a travel advisory on Allegiant's website. But airlines cancel flights all the time, often due to bad weather, and the Allegiant website does not list the reason for Monday's cancellations.

One flight from Las Vegas to Montana was canceled Monday because of mechanical problems, according to a media report.

Contact William R. Levesque at levesque@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3432. Follow @Times_Levesque