Allegiant Air is an American low-cost airline owned by Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) that operates scheduled and charter flights. Allegiant Travel Company is a publicly traded company with 1,800 employees and one billion USD market capitalization. The corporate headquarters are in Enterprise, Nevada, an unincorporated suburb of Las Vegas. Allegiant Air was founded in January of 1997 by Mitch Allee (Owner, CEO), Jim Patterson (President), and Capt. Dave Beadle (Chief Pilot). The airline received FAA and DOT certification in June of 1998. Allegiant was founded in 1997 under the name WestJet Express. After a trademark dispute with West Jet Air Center of Rapid City, South Dakota, and with the name's similarity to WestJet Airlines of Canada, the airline adopted the name Allegiant Air and received its operating certificate for scheduled and charter domestic operations in 1998. The airline also has authority for charter service to Canada and Mexico. Wholly owned by Allegiant Travel, the airline has over 1,800 employees. Scheduled service began on October 15, 1998 between Las Vegas and the airline's original hub in Fresno, California, at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, with Douglas DC-9-21 and DC-9-51 jetliners. Allegiant was also flying nonstop DC-9 service from the Lake Tahoe Airport nonstop to Burbank, Fresno and Las Vegas at this time. Shortly after the shutdown of WinAir Airlines, Allegiant Air opened a hub in Long Beach, California, mirroring WinAir's network. Allegiant was unable to bring in enough revenue to cover its costs and on December 13, 2000, Allegiant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., the major creditor of the airline, gained control of the business during reorganization.

The Airbus A320 family consists of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The family includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321, and the ACJ business jet. Final assembly of the family in Europe takes place in Toulouse, France, and Hamburg, Germany. Since 2009, a plant in Tianjin in the People's Republic of China has also started producing aircraft for Chinese airlines. In June 2012, Airbus announced plans to begin building the 319, 320, and 321 variants in Mobile, Alabama.The aircraft family can accommodate up to 220 passengers and has a range of 3,100 to 12,000 km (1,700 to 6,500 nmi), depending on model. The first member of the A320 family—the A320—was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was first delivered in 1988. The family was soon extended to include the A321 (first delivered 1994), the A319 (1996), and the A318 (2003). The A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side-stick controls, in commercial aircraft. There has been a continuous improvement process since introduction. On 1 December 2010, Airbus officially launched the new generation of the A320 family with the A320neo "New Engine Option". The new generation offers a choice of the CFM International LEAP-X or Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of winglets, named Sharklets by Airbus. The aircraft will deliver fuel savings of up to 15%. Virgin America will be the launch customer for the aircraft in spring of 2016. As of 31 December 2011, a total of 1,196 A320 family aircraft have been ordered by 21 airlines making it the fastest ever selling commercial aircraft. As of October 2011, a total of 4,858 Airbus A320 family aircraft have been delivered, of which 4,765 are in service. In addition, another 3,255 airliners are on firm order. It ranked as the world's fastest-selling jet airliner family according to records from 2005 to 2007, and as the best-selling single-generation aircraft program. The family's direct competitors are the Boeing 737, 717, 757 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-80.