Avelo Airlines to end ICE deportation charters, cut commercial flights and jobs

Avelo Airlines will stop flying deportation flights for the U.S. government and will also cut commercial routes and reduce headcount, its chief executive told staff.

The airline, which debuted in 2021 with a focus on connecting smaller cities, last year exited a host of destinations on the West Coast and also turned to flying deportees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which sparked protests and backlash from some politicians.

“We moved a portion of our fleet into a government program which promised more financial stability but placed us in the center of a political controversy,” CEO Andrew Levy said in an email to employees late Tuesday, which was seen by CNBC.

“The program provided short-term benefits but ultimately did not deliver enough consistent and predictable revenue to overcome its operational complexity and costs,” Levy wrote.

Avelo said it would close its base in Mesa, Arizona, as ICE flights end. ICE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The airline also agreed to return six of its Boeing 737-700 airplanes and said it will close bases at North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Wilmington International Airport, though it will continue to serve those cities.

Those closures will lead to job cuts, Levy said.

“Some transfer opportunities will be available, but we will need to reduce the number of positions due to our smaller fleet and network,” Levy wrote.

The airline will instead focus on bases Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut; Lakeland Linder International Airport in Florida, which sits between Tampa and Orlando; Delaware’s Wilmington Airport; and Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. It will also open a base at McKinney National Airport near Dallas.

The union representing flight attendants for Avelo applauded the end of the ICE flights.

“The airline industry is constantly changing, but we’ve faced far too much change at our airline including operating certain flights we didn’t originally sign up for,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the flight attendants’ union, said in a statement to members. “We’re hopeful that with the end of the ICE flying and new financing the future is more stable for Flight Attendants at Avelo.”

Avelo said that the near-term schedule changes “will impact many Customer itineraries” and said it would reach out via text and email to affected travelers.

Levy told staff that the carrier raised “a substantial amount of new capital” at the end of the year and that the financial position of the carrier “has never been stronger.”