Allegiant refunds tickets for an entire flight at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport to celebrate its 40-millionth Florida passenger

CLEARWATER -- Allegiant has made its name as a low-cost airline, though not for cutting the price of a ticket to zero.

Yet that's what the airline did Thursday at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport for one planeload of lucky travelers.

Everyone on Allegiant Flight 856 to Nashville got a refund for their round-trip tickets, seat assignment fees and baggage fees as the company celebrated its landmark of having served 40 million passengers.

"Thank you to each of you for helping us to reach this milestone," Allegiant government affairs director Eric Fletcher told the 166 passengers waiting to board Flight 856. "You're the reason we were able to keep growing in the state."

No one looked happier to get the news than Amy Hunt of Plant City. The second-grade Knights Elementary School teacher threw her hands up and head back when she heard the announcement.

"Oh my gosh, it was the best news ever. So unexpected," said Hunt, who paid $275 for her round-trip ticket. "The flights from here are such a great price to start with. It beats anything leaving out of Tampa or Orlando."

And St. Pete-Clearwater airport wasn't the only place where Allegiant made this gesture. It also gave refunds to one flight at each of the other six airports it serves in Florida: Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers-Punta Gorda, Jacksonville, Orlando-Sanford and Sarasota-Bradenton.

Allegiant, based in Las Vegas, began Florida service in 2005 with four routes out of Orlando, and a total, for that year, of 109,000 passengers.

Since late 2016, the airline has almost completely replaced a fleet of older McDonnell Douglas MD-80s that a Tampa Bay Times investigation found to be prone to mechanical breakdowns with newer Airbus A319s and A320s.

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403.