Allegiant Reporting Delays To Inspect MD-80 Slides

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Allegiant Airlines is reporting flight delays nationwide while it inspects emergency slides on its MD-80 aircraft, days after 150 passengers and crew members used slides to evacuate one of its planes in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas-based airline posted a notice Friday apologizing for disrupting customers' travel plans and promising around-the-clock work to correct unspecified problems.

The inspections follow the Monday slide evacuation of 144 passengers and six crew members after reports of smoke in the cabin of an Allegiant flight at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

No injuries were reported in the evacuation, and travelers on the flight bound for Peoria, Ill., were shuttled to the airport terminal to wait for an alternate flight.

Company spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler declined Friday to say why slides are being inspected.

Allegiant is a leisure-focused airline that mostly flies from small cities to vacation destinations including Las Vegas.

Allegiant flies twice a week between St. Cloud Regional Airport and Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona.