Avelo Airlines to end ICE deportation charters as it cuts commercial flights, jobs

Avelo streamlines network and fleet, ends deportations

Avelo Airlines is shaking up its operation as part of a wide-ranging turnaround effort.The startup budget airline said this week that it would close three of its bases and realign its network around four remaining bases, changing its schedule as it moves to firm up its financial performance amid a period of losses for the carrier.Avelo will shut its bases at Arizona's Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA), Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in Nort…

Avelo Airlines to End Deportation Flights from Mesa Gateway Airport This Month

Avelo Airlines plans to end all deportation flights from Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport by January 27, concluding its participation in a federal charter program with the Department of Homeland Security. The decision follows months of scrutiny over the airline’s involvement in immigration enforcement operations. The program, which began in May 2025, used Avelo’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft to transport… Source

BWI protests fell short, but airline will still end deportation flights

An Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-700 airplane lands at Burbank Airport in an October 2024 file photo. (Getty stock photo)Maryland activists were unable to convince Moore administration officials to boot Avelo Airlines from Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport last year after the low-cost carrier began running deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But those flights are about to end anyway: Avelo this wee…

Avelo Airlines to stop deportation flights after months of backlash

Avelo Airlines will stop flying deportation charters for the Department of Homeland Security, ending its service for Immigration and Customs Enforcement after less than a year.

Avelo Airlines to stop deportation flights for ICE

Avelo Airlines, a low-cost carrier operating in dozens of markets across the U.S., will be closing its base in Mesa, Arizona, and concluding "all participation" in a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charter program.

Avelo Airlines is getting out of the deportation business

Avelo Airlines has announced that it will no longer fly deportation flights for the U.S. government, citing public backlash. The airline began flying deportees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year, despite protests from lawmakers in New York and Connecticut.  CEO Andrew Levy announced the pivot in policy in an email to staff, saying the airline had found itself in the middle of the sensitive and controversial debate over …