LAS VEGAS, Nov. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Today, dozens of Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) employees gathered at the airline’s West Coast Training Center to celebrate their newest pilot: Ben, a 14-year-old wish kid.
The airline partnered with Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada to grant Ben’s wish to be a pilot, flying him and his family in from Reno Tuesday.
“We’ve been partners with Make-A-Wish since 2012 and have flown more than 2,000 kids and their families to their wish destinations, so we understand the transformational power of a wish,” said Gregory Anderson, Allegiant president. “But this is the first time we’ve had the honor of actually granting a child’s wish. Our team members wanted to create an unforgettable experience for Ben and I believe they succeeded.”
After receiving his pilot’s wings and uniform, Ben joined two Allegiant captains in the flight deck of the company’s full-motion Airbus simulator, where he “flew” his first flight to Reno, Nevada. Along for the ride were his father and sister. After the flight deck doors closed, the Allegiant captains gave Ben the same treatment a pilot-in-training receives, turning over the controls to him and teaching him how to take off, steer the aircraft and land.
Ben’s training really began Tuesday, when he flew into Las Vegas on an Allegiant flight. The pilots enlisted his help in preparing the aircraft for departure, showing him how they conduct their pre-flight checks, including an inspection of the exterior of the plane.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but we know it takes a community to grant a wish,” said Scott Rosenzweig, Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada president and CEO. “Allegiant Air continues to walk beside us in giving the prescription of hope for children with critical illnesses and provides us our home here at Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada. And when we found out Ben’s wish, we only had one team in mind, Allegiant. They not only make our kids’ wishes come true but ours too!”
Allegiant became a national partner with Make-A-Wish in 2012. Since then, the company has donated more than $7 million to the organization through in-kind flights and sponsorships.
Allegiant’s partnership with Make-A-Wish extends beyond wish flights. In 2017, the airline donated office space at its Las Vegas headquarters to Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada. This allows the nonprofit to reduce its administrative costs, dedicating those funds to wish fulfillment.
Allegiant also donates $1 from every Wingz Snack Packs sold in flight to Make-A-Wish and is the presenting sponsor of the annual Walk for Wishes event in Las Vegas.
Allegiant – Together We Fly™
Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com. Media information, including photos, is available at http://gofly.us/iiFa303wrtF
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SOURCE Allegiant Travel Company
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