Since the start of spring, Avelo Airlines has faced protests in multiple parts of the country.
The Houston-based budget carrier launched in 2021 and quickly found a niche serving markets not large enough for a mainstream airline — as of May 2025, it flies to 48 domestic destinations and five international ones.
Along with running commercial routes, Avelo has also held multiple contracts for deportation flights with the federal government. While Avelo first started running them under the Biden administration, it hit upon widespread scrutiny and protests amid Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and high-profile cases in which some were deported without a proper trial or against judges’ order.
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Avelo previously called deportation flight contract ‘too valuable not to pursue’
Avelo CEO Andrew Levy had earlier this spring said that the contract to use three of its Boeing 737-800s (BA) planes to “support the Department’s deportation efforts” was “controversial [but…] too valuable not to pursue.”
“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 crew members employed for years to come,” Levy said to a local Arizona branch of ABC.
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With the new contract between Avelo and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) written to start on May 12, flight tracker data shows that the airline has already run several flights out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA).
Both Avelo and the government have kept any details around the frequency and the destination of the flights under tight wraps, but countries receiving planes of deported migrants earlier this year include El Salvador, India, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.
On May 12, over 100 protesters gathered around Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) — Avelo has a strong presence there — to speak out against the Avelo flights in Arizona. Similar protests have taken place in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, California, Delaware, and Florida throughout March and April.
Deported individuals from the U.S. arrive on a flight at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Venezuela in March 2025.
Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Deportation flights provide ‘stability to grow our core business,’ CEO says
In a new statement to Arizona News, Levy once again defended the deportation flights as a core part of the airline’s business by leaning into the argument that they provide jobs to flight attendants.
“Having a portion of our company dedicated to charter flying, without exposure to fluctuating fuel prices or risk from macroeconomic factors, provides us with the stability to grow our core business, which is scheduled passenger travel,” Levy said.
More on travel:
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The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, meanwhile, has previously issued a statement denouncing both the flights and the requirement that Avelo flight attendants run them.
“Having an entire flight of people handcuffed and shackled would hinder any evacuation and risk injury or death,” said the association, which represents over 50,000 airlines across 20 airlines. “It also impedes our ability to respond to a medical emergency, fire on board, decompression, etc. We cannot do our jobs in these conditions.”
Avelo had previously denied media requests to view its contract to run the flights with ICE, saying it was not authorized to release it. It had previously also classified the flights as its response to “when our country calls and requests assistance.”
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