Avelo Defend Deportation Flights

Avelo Airlines, a Houston, Texas-based low-cost carrier, are facing backlash from both employees and customers over their decision to operate deportation flights under a new contract with the Trump administration. 

Avelo, which have been struggling financially, signed a contract with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last month to transport migrants to detention centers inside and outside the US, according to an internal company memo reviewed by the Reuters news agency. 

On Monday, the airline flew their first flight under the deal from Arizona to Louisiana, data from flight-tracking services FlightAware and Flightradar24 showed. 

Avelo plan to dedicate three Boeing 737-800 planes to deportation operations and has established a charter-only base in Mesa, Arizona, specifically for these flights, according to the company memo. 

US President Donald Trump launched a hardline crackdown on undocumented immigration, including the deportation of Venezuelan migrants he accused of being gang members to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Immigration authorities also detained and moved to deport some legal permanent US residents. Trump’s policies have triggered a rash of lawsuits and protests. 

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were deporting illegal aliens who broke the country’s laws. She called the protests “nothing more than a tired tactic to abolish ICE by proxy”. 

The airline on Wednesday confirmed their long-term agreement with ICE and said it was vital to Avelo’s financial stability. They also shared a statement from CEO Andrew Levy (right) acknowledging that it is a “sensitive and complicated topic”, but saying that the decision on the contract came “after significant deliberations”. 

The statement added that the deal would keep the airline’s “more than 1,100 crewmembers employed for years to come”. 

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represent Avelo’s crew, have urged the company to reconsider their decision, which they said would be “bad for the airline”. 

“Having an entire flight of people handcuffed and shackled would hinder any evacuation and risk injury or death,” the union reiterated. “We cannot do our jobs in these conditions”. 

Customers have also expressed outrage. Anne Watkins, a New Haven, Connecticut, resident, said she has stopped flying with Avelo. She and her co-members at the New Haven Immigrants Coalition have launched an online petition urging travellers to boycott the airline until they end their ICE flight operations. The petition has garnered more than 38,000 signatures. 

Watkins said the coalition also organised a vigil on Monday to mark the launch of Avelo’s deportation flights. 

In California, Los Angeles resident Nancy K has co-founded a campaign called “Mothers Against Avelo”. She plans to lead weekly protests every Sunday in May at Hollywood Burbank airport, one of Avelo’s six operating bases. 

And Connecticut Attorney-general William Tong, a Democrat, has threatened to review the state’s incentives for Avelo, which have received more than $2 million in subsidies and tax breaks.

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