Low-cost airline shrinks routes in order to fulfill ICE contract

Just days after shrinking the number of routes available to customers, ultra-low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines will start a new government contract - chartering deportation flights out of Arizona for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Starting May 12, Avelo will begin operating domestic and international deportation flights out of Messa Gateway Airport, the company said in a statement to The Independent.

Avelo, which began operations in 2021, said it agreed to charter the flights in order to provide the company “with the stability” to continue flying passengers and employing crew members.

“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” Avelo Airline founder and CEO Andrew Levy said.

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“After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come,” Levy added.

The airline is closing its base in Sonoma County on May 1, days before it begins deportation flights. A spokesperson for the airline said that was “due to low demand” and “achieving necessary financial results there has proven more elusive than expected.”

This means Avelo’s routes from the Bay Area to Boise, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah; Ontario, California; and Kalispell, Montana, will be cut.

Avelo plans to continue serving several routes in California, including Burbank, Las Vegas, Redmond and seasonally to Palm Springs.

A spokesperson for the airline said that it “has nothing to do with DHS charters.”

With the new flight operations underway in Arizona, Avelo said it would give current crew members the option to transfer to the new base as well as hire locally for flight attendants, pilots and aircraft technicians.

The Trump administration has promised to deport undocumented immigrants from the U.S. by any means necessary as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation and anti-immigration plans. So far, the administration has conducted nearly 400 deportation flights.

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More than 25,000 people have signed an online petition to pressure Avelo to cease it’s contract with the administration.

This isn’t the first time Avelo has agreed to charter immigration flights with the government, however, it appears to be their first agreement regarding deportation flights.

The airline flew migrants from the border in Texas to various cities across the U.S. in 2022, including Westchester, New York and Jacksonville, Florida.

“Regardless of the administration or party affiliation, as a U.S. flag carrier when our country calls and requests assistance our practice is to say yes. We follow all protocols from DHS and FAA, honoring our core value of Safety Always,” a spokesperson for the airline said.