Longtime Allegiant Travel Group chief executive Maurice Gallagher will step down on 1 September and be succeeded as CEO by company president Gregory Anderson.
The Las Vegas-based company, which owns low-cost airline Allegiant Air, disclosed the management shift on 18 July, saying Gallagher will retire but retain his position as Allegiant’s board chair.
“As Allegiant’s founder, largest individual shareholder and CEO for nearly 25 years, I have as much interest as anyone in the future of this amazing company,” Gallagher says. “I have complete confidence with Greg at the helm and I know he will continue to build on our success.”
Gallagher became CEO in 2003, after helping found long-defunct discounter ValuJet Airlines.
Anderson has been Allegiant’s president since August 2022 and had been the company’s chief financial officer between April 2019 and January 2023.
“Under his current role as president, Anderson has continued to lead the team to a position as one of the top airlines in the industry, excelling in financial and operational performance along with customer satisfaction,” Allegiant says.
Anderson joined Allegiant in 2010, having previously worked at US Airways and, before that, accounting and consulting firm EY.
“I’m honoured and humbled to serve as Allegiant’s next CEO,” Anderson said. “I’ve had the great fortune to be mentored over many years by one of the most respected innovators and CEOs in the airline industry, Maury Gallagher.”
During more than two decades as CEO, Gallagher led Allegiant through steady but measured growth under a strategy of operating point-to-point routes between secondary cities and destinations favoured by holidaymakers. Allegiant’s schedule and volume of flights fluctuate significantly day by day, with the company operating many more flights on busy travel days.
The airline had long operated a fleet composed entirely of McDonnell Douglas MD-series narrowbody jets but in recent years transitioned to operate only Airbus A320-family aircraft. It now has 131 of those but also holds unfilled orders for 50 Boeing 737 Max, according to Cirium fleets data.
“After working closely with [Anderson] for the past 15 years, I have first-hand knowledge of his phenomenal leadership skills, business acumen, industry knowledge and work ethic that make him well-prepared to take on these added responsibilities,” says Gallagher. ”He’s incredibly well-respected within the company and throughout the industry. In many ways, he’s already doing the job.”
