Some of Allegiant Air’s seasonal flights to Myrtle Beach start this week

Allegiant Air, which averted a strike by its pilots last week that would have canceled flights, will begin some of its seasonal flights to Myrtle Beach this week — more than a month earlier than usual.

Flights to Columbus, Ohio are scheduled to begin Thursday, and Cincinnati service will start Friday. More Allegiant flights will come on line as the summer tourism season approaches, including service to five new destinations in early June.

The last time Allegiant flew to Myrtle Beach during April was 2010, when it brought nearly 3,300 passengers to Myrtle Beach, according to statistics from Myrtle Beach International Airport.

A court blocked a planned strike by Allegiant pilots Thursday, which would have grounded 250 flights and affected 33,000 customers, the company said. The pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, are upset over the company’s change in crew scheduling and a rollback in a disability program and other benefits, The Associated Press reported. The two sides had been negotiating until a stalemate in November.

Allegiant officials said Thursday that travelers with tickets to Myrtle Beach next week shouldn’t worry about the strike affecting their flights.

“All scheduled services are operating as scheduled and we have no reason to believe scheduled service will be affected going forward as we continue negotiating with the IBT,” Allegiant spokesman Justin Ralenkotter said.

Allegiant has been boosting its presence in Myrtle Beach. It’s adding five new destinations this year: Flights to Akron-Canton will begin June 3; Indianapolis, Ind., and Orlando (via Orlando Sanford International Airport) will start June 4; and Clarksburg, W.Va., and Pittsburgh (via Pittsburgh International Airport) will begin June 5.

Last year, Allegiant had doubled the number of cities it serves from Myrtle Beach. With the new destinations starting in June, Allegiant will be serving 13 cities from Myrtle Beach.

Last year, Allegiant brought 50,169 passengers to Myrtle Beach from May through September, according to statistics from Myrtle Beach International Airport, and contributed to record-setting months in passenger numbers for Myrtle Beach International Airport.

Allegiant, which doesn’t fly to Myrtle Beach during the fall and winter, ranks fourth at the Myrtle Beach airport in passenger numbers, behind year-round carriers Spirit Airlines -- which makes up about half the traffic at MYR each year, 443,804 incoming passengers last year -- U.S. Airways (205,836 incoming passengers) and Delta (145,085 incoming passengers).

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Some of Allegiant Air’s seasonal flights to Myrtle Beach start this week."