Avelo Airlines is under criticism after it signed a new contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to operate deportation flights of illegal immigrants, that led to protests and political pushback.
The contract aims to fly immigrants rounded up by the Trump administration out of the country. That has groups like the New Haven Immigrants Coalition and the Revolutionary Communists of America protesting.
Avelo, a smaller airline that operates flights out of Hartford’s Bradley International and Tweed New Haven airports, released a statement after announcing a new partnership with the Department of Homeland Security to assist in the deportation of illegal migrants in the United States.
CEO Andrew Levy defended the decision in an internal email on April 3 to employees, writing that while the flights
“have been regularly occurring for over forty years,” they are “currently receiving an increased amount of media attention.”
As per the CEO, after extensive deliberations, the carrier concluded this new opportunity was too valuable not to pursue, as it will help them stabilize the finances that would help continue the journey,
“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. 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," Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said.
The budget carrier carrier will charter flights from Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona, utilizing three Boeing 737-800 aircraft in collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Andrew Levy added further in that April 3 email,
“The primary reason Avelo’s performance did not meet expectations in Q12025 centers around New Haven (HVN), which until now has been a source of strength in our portfolio,”
“As expected, Breeze’s arrival in New Haven and competition in six markets hurt our results. But perhaps even more impactful has been the substantial increase in competitive seat capacity in nearby airports from JetBlue, Breeze, Frontier, Spirit, and others.”
But state officials in Connecticut, including Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong, for example, have condemned the flights. Lawmakers in that state, where Avelo has a base, have even proposed stripping subsidies from companies that aid in deportations.
It also led to public protests, including one outside Tweed-New Haven Airport. The group called for a boycott of the budget airline, NBC Connecticut reported. There’ve also been thousands of signatures added to Change.org petition supporting the boycott.
Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, said Avelo doesn’t pay Connecticut’s aviation fuel tax, calling the arrangement “a backstop against losses here in the state.”
Stafstrom said,
“State taxpayers are helping prop that company up and keep that company operational. But then they turn around and they are then using those same planes that we’re helping to subsidize, to deport individuals out of this country."
“I don’t think that’s how we should be spending our state tax dollars,” he said.
However CEO Andrew Levy has other views and mentioned that they flew similar flights under the previous regime in the U.S.A.,
"We have canceled and changed our schedules to accommodate trough periods of low travel and removed routes from that network that have low demand and were not profitable. No flights were canceled solely due to the new charter opportunities. ACV will not be affected." Levy added,
"We also flew these charters under the Biden administration. 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."
Avelo's statement on Thursday acknowledged the “weight of these concerns” and stressed that the practice wasn’t politically motivated or new, noting that the airline flew the same kind of flights during the Biden administration.
“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,’” spokesperson Courtney Goff said. “We follow all protocols from DHS and FAA, honoring our core value of Safety Always.”
Avelo now plans to open a base at AZA with Avelo pilots, flight attendants, and aircraft technicians. They said they plan to begin hiring locally for these positions immediately, with a first option to transfer to the new AZA base.
Protest against carriers is not a new concept, in October 2022, activists from "Freedom from Torture" forced a present (worst airline of the year award) to the carrier 'Privilege Style' at their headquarters in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for their association with deportation plan to deport refugees on planes from UK to Rwanda.
