"Allegiant gives Indiana airport look of life"

Saturday, March 20, 2004 

Allegiant gives airport look of life 
By Lisa Shidler
The Gary (IN) Post-Tribune


An area keyboard synthesizer performed as passengers readied to board
planes enroute to Florida, Nevada and Michigan. 

Friday was a busy day at Gary/Chicago International Airport, which just
one month ago had a mostly vacant parking lot and few people milling
around inside the terminal. 

People heading to the Florida beaches boarded a Southeast Airlines
plane, and about 120 of Harrah's Casino's high rollers flew to Laughlin,
Nev., for the weekend in a flight provided by the casino and Allegiant
Air. 

Also, Ford Motor Co. employees flew back to Detroit on a company plane
after working at a Chicago-area plant during the week. 

Allegiant Air, founded in 1997, operates charter flights and scheduled
passenger flights catering to leisure travelers to Las Vegas and
elsewhere in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. 

Friday's flight out of Gary was marketed by Harrah's to its preferred
customers. The flights depart about half a dozen times a year and have
traditionally flown out of Midway or O'Hare airports. 

While this is not a permanent deal yet, Gary officials say they hope
this initial test flight could draw more charter flights through
Harrah's and Allegiant Air. 

An Allegiant official said the Gary airport is one of 20 to 30 airports
it is considering for scheduled passenger service as well. 

Airport leaders hope the airline will offer scheduled passenger trips to
Las Vegas because many residents have requested that service. 

Mark Peterson, vice president of marketing and sales for Allegiant, said
the company flies to more than 120 airports on behalf of Harrah's. 

The airline used an MD-87 plane on Friday, but also flies passengers on
MD-80s and MD-82s. Some other airplanes can't fly to Las Vegas from the
Gary airport because the runway is too short for their size and
configuration. 

Those on the free flight to Nevada - which returns on Monday - had a
wide range of gambling experience. 

One of the passengers, Rich Anderson of Chicago, said he has only
gambled at the casino four times in the last few years. He was
pleasantly surprised by the airport, which he said was much nicer than
he expected. 

"This is our first trip to this airport, and it's very nice,'' he said.
"This is not what I expected." 

Anderson and sister Mary Allen were also impressed with the ambiance of
the airport, which on Friday included a local keyboard synthesizer who
was playing music in the terminal and free food. 

Meanwhile, Ford employees were also leaving the airport on Friday. Ford
is flying its employees to the area on Monday mornings and back home
again on Friday nights for about six months. 

Scott Jensen, a Ford spokesman, said the company owns its own planes and
often transports employees back and forth to locations. 

Workers are completing new Ford lines, including the Ford-500 at its
South Suburban plant. 

"Obviously it's a pretty big project and we have people coming back and
forth quite a bit," Jensen said.


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