Some shocking airline news: Allegiant Air reported its 27th consecutive profitable quarter, earning it the title of “the nation’s most profitable airline,” according to the St. Petersburg Times.
 

"Allegiant made more profit per dollar of operating revenue than any US airline for the previous three quarters, far ahead of traditional network airlines and big-name discounters including Southwest and JetBlue" the newspaper said.
 

The reasons why might be of interest to other ailing airlines who might want to take notes and notice, say travel observers:
 

 Allegiant flies aging jets to small airports on very limited schedules, which ensure they carry full loads.
 

 That translates into Allegiant competing with other airlines in only five markets.
 

 Sales of car rentals, vacation packages and other services and products are nearly as important as passenger revenues.
 

 The company owns its own fleet, which also keeps costs down. It pays only $4 million per plane unlike the major carriers which often pay $30 to $40 million.
 

 Finally, Allegiant also “squeezes a nickel harder than anyone,” says the Times.
 

"That's why we call ourselves Allegiant Travel Co., because we don't see ourselves as limited to flying people from Point A to Point B," CFO Andrew Levy told USA TODAY. "We've … taken a focused approach on selling something more than air travel."
 

Allegiant also collects $32.36 per ticket on average from a half dozen fees and sales of hotel rooms, car rentals and vacation extras. Ryanair, the Irish no-frills airline famous for its long list of fees, gets less than $14, according to the newspaper.
 

Because of all that, Allegiant remains in a growth mode.
 

By David Wilkening