(Reuters) - Allegiant Travel Co ( ALGT ), a low-cost carrier that provides service to leisure destinations, is grounding as many as 30 of its aircraft, or roughly half of its fleet, to inspect emergency evacuation slides in response to an FAA request for information. The company's shares fell about 5 percent. In a statement on Friday, Allegiant cited a "compliance issue" that will necessitate prompt inspections of the evacuation slides in its MD-80 aircraft. It added that the move would lead to delays and cancellations, and said the process was expected to be completed by the end of this month. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday it directed Allegiant to report on the status of the slides on its MD-80s after it investigated an emergency evacuation of Allegiant Flight 436 at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on Monday.