Delays continue for Allegiant Air flyers

SANFORD, Fla. — More than a dozen short flights to and from Orlando got a whole lot longer this weekend.

Allegiant Air reported problems with 14 flights, some of which were diverted while others were grounded because of mechanical or staffing issues.

The airline put the blame on Orlando Sanford International Airport, saying there were issues with runway lights and that the stormy weather didn’t help matters

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“I try not to worry about it too much. If it happens, it happens. Not much I can do about it,” said passenger Janel Hollar.

Hollar flies into Sanford using Allegiant Air about twice a year.

She knows the low-cost ticket that's made Allegiant Air so popular usually comes with another kind of cost.

“It's well-known that we get delayed a lot,” she said.

This weekend, four Allegiant Air flights were rescheduled because of maintenance issues and 10 others were rescheduled because of a lack of available crews.

An Allegiant Air spokesperson said in a statement, "The majority of the issues with flights to Orlando this weekend were due to operational constraints, including weather and airport issues resulting in flight crews being over their legal hourly limit for flying."

The airline blames some of those problems on runway lights at Sanford's airport, which forced Allegiant Air to land at Orlando International Airport instead.

Channel 9 asked airport officials about the delays.

In a statement, a spokesperson said at about 11 p.m. Saturday, an Air Traffic Controller at the Orlando Sanford International Airport received a report from a pilot that the localizer, a component of the landing system, on the runaway was operating intermittently.

The controller deemed the runway inoperable, the spokesperson said.

The information was sent to several Allegiant flights inbound to the Sanford Airport and the decision was made by those pilots to divert to Orlando International Airport due to the inclement weather.

Cox Media Group