Travel Roundup: Allegiant Offers Los Angeles, Bombardier Business Jets Hurting, MGM Mirage's Building Woes and More

Allegiant offers nonstop flights to Southern California from Sioux Falls, S.D. — Allegiant Air will offer nonstop service to Southern California from Sioux Falls, S.D. starting May 20.  Allegiant Air isn’t revealing which Southern California stop will be offered until Feb. 18, although some educated guesses would be Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport in Ontario, Calif. and John Wayne International Airport in Anaheim. At least one spokesman said the sunny climate would appeal to weatherbeaten South Dakotans. [Source: Argus Leader]

Cutting corporate excess and jets hurts Bombardier — Bombardier Inc., which manufactures the Learjet and Challenger jet, is cutting 1,360 jobs because recession-era cost-cutting is killing the business jet market, experts say. The job cuts will affect workers in Montreal, Wichita and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Increased scrutiny on corporations, especially in the automotive and banking industries, is causing companies to cut back on private jet use and glutting the market with used, cheaply-priced planes. [Source: Globe and Mail]

County officials want MGM Mirage to prove CityCenter is solid — MGM Mirage must prove to Clark County its $9 billion CityCenter project isn’t cursed with defective building. The needed verification comes six months after serious problems were found at the Harmon Hotel, one of the site’s seven buildings, where 15 floors of steel were faulty. Although passed by a private inspection company, a project engineer alerted county officials about serious flaws in the building’s rebar. MGM Mirage decided to drop 21 of the Harmon’s planned floors and get rid of its proposed 200 condos. The county is now demanding a third-party, private inspection company to look over the work — but not the one that previously inspected and OK’d the defective tower. [Source: Las Vegas Sun]

Disney will hear from resort executives on buyouts today  – Walt Disney Co. offered buyouts last month to more than 600 of its resort executives and today is the deadline to accept the voluntary severance package. The company said it would lay off workers if too few accepted the buyout offer. [Source: Sun-Sentinel]