- Allegiant has added a silver and black Airbus A-319 jet to their aircraft fleet to represent the Las Vegas Raiders as NFL football season is set to begin.
- Allegiant is based in Las Vegas and is the official airline of the Raiders.
- They are also the naming rights partner for the Raiders’ home field, Allegiant Stadium.
It’s pretty obvious that Las Vegas based Allegiant is tight with the hometown Raiders. They’re the ‘Official Airlines of the Raiders’ and were that not enough they’re the naming rights partner of the team’s home field aka ‘Allegiant Stadium‘. Their support for Las Vegas’ NFL team doesn’t stop there–earlier this week, Allegiant introduced a one-of-a-kind Silver & Black Airbus A-319 ‘designed to capture the spirit and strength of Raider Nation’.
The company paid close attention to the design detail of the Raiders’ jet carefully matching the silver paint color of the plane to the team’s iconic helmets. Here’s how the press release announcing the launch described the design process:
The one-of-a-kind livery was designed to have a strong, powerful presence in Allegiant’s fleet – as the Raiders do both on the field and in the Las Vegas community. The design incorporates Allegiant’s signature livery elements – flowing ribbon encircling the fuselage, prominent logo and sunburst tail – but washed in the Silver & Black recognized throughout the world as representing the Raiders. The silver metallic paint was carefully matched to the team’s distinctive helmets, and the engine cowlings call out Raider Nation, symbolizing the lift an incredible international fan base gives to this legendary franchise.
Scott DeAngelo, Allegiant’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, is clearly pleased to announce the addition of the Raiders’ jet to his airline’s fleet–he even name checked the team’s unofficial theme song/poem The Autumn Wind:
“As die-hard fans know, ‘The Autumn Wind is a Raider. As football season rolls in this fall, we’re thrilled to have ‘The Autumn Wind’ bring this stunning aircraft to Las Vegas for all fans to enjoy. As Las Vegas’ hometown airline, we’re incredibly proud of our partnership with our hometown team. This distinctive jet brings together signature elements of both our brands, combining them to showcase our shared community pride.”
Las Vegas Raiders President Dan Ventrelle put over the team’s partnership with Allegiant:
“We are pleased and excited to expand our partnership with Allegiant through the addition of this Raiders-branded aircraft. Raider Nation and beyond is now able to travel to and from the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World in style.”
This isn’t the first time that Allegiant has represented a hometown Las Vegas team with a ‘commemorative jet’. In September, 2019 the airline unveiled a Vegas Golden Knights themed plane:
Here’s some local media coverage of the new Raiders plane from 8 News NOW in the 702:
The paint job on the plane was done in Victorville, California and it took about a week to complete. Dan Ventrelle, Raiders president, reiterated his push of the partnership with Allegiant in a conversation with the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
“It’s incredible because we’ve been proud to showcase their name on the building (Allegiant Stadium) It seemed like the perfect time to reciprocate and showcase our brand on their product. To have it displayed on an aircraft like this is really a good opportunity for us to showcase how great this partnership is.”
The Raiders’ plane isn’t just for show–it’s a regular part of the Allegiant fleet as Scott DeAngelo, chief marketing officer with Allegiant, notes:
“It can fly to any of 63 places and I would suspect it may make a trip to Kansas City, Chicago Midway. It’s been in service less than a week and it’s already gone to 12 different markets. It’s already working hard.”
One place the jet has *definitely* been is El Paso, Texas where an aviation enthusiast shot this video:
The Raiders begin their second season in Las Vegas on Monday, September 13 as they host the Baltimore Ravens at Allegiant Stadium. At BetOnline.ag, the Raiders are a +4 home underdog with the total set at 50.5.
