Avelo Airlines plans to stop running deportation flights for the Trump administration later this month after deciding that its participation in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program is too complex and costly to continue.
Avelo spokesperson Courtney Goff confirmed that coming move for the budget airline in an email comment sent to the Independent on Wednesday.
“Avelo will close the base at AZA [in Mesa, Arizona] on January 27 and will conclude participation in the DHS charter program,” Goff wrote. “The program provided short-term benefits but ultimately did not deliver enough consistent and predictable revenue to overcome its operational complexity and costs.”
AZ Family, a local news outlet in Phoenix, first reported on Avelo’s decision to end its deportation flights, which began out of Arizona last May — prompting a New Haven-based boycott movement, condemnation from politicians and activists across the country, and frequent protests outside of Tweed New Haven Airport, where Avelo has been flying direct commercial flights (but not deportation flights) since November 2021.
Avelo CEO Andrew Levy previously defended the company’s decision to run deportation flights on financial grounds, stating that the DHS contract was necessary to maintain Avelo’s operations, including its service of New Haveners. Click here to read an American Prospect report from November 2025 on Avelo’s “sloppy, dangerous deportation flights.”
“The big lesson here is that human suffering is not profitable,” said Pastor Jack Perkins Davidson of Hamden’s Spring Glen Church in a phone interview with the Independent Wednesday. “I hope Avelo and all corporations in the U.S. have learned that valuable lesson, that collaborating with injustice and collaborating with racism, though it may for them provide the allure of short-term gain, are empty promises. There is no benefit.”
In a separate comment provided to the Independent Wednesday, Tabitha Sookdeo, the executive director of Connecticut Students for a Dream and a fellow leader of the Avelo protest movement, said, “No airline should be in the business of transporting human beings in chains. This decision shows that when communities organize and refuse to spend their money on harm, corporations listen. People have power. This is what it looks like.”
Avelo Doubles Down On Tweed
Goff’s confirmation of Avelo’s decision to stop flying deportation flights also comes a day after she sent out a separate email press release Tuesday night under the subject line: “Avelo Airlines Reiterates Long-Term Commitment to Connecticut.”
“Avelo Airlines has been recapitalized, and its cash position is now one of the strongest in the U.S. airline industry relative to its size,” that Tuesday press release states. “The airline will use this cash infusion and balance sheet strength to execute its long-term strategy, with emphasis on further developing its key base at Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN).”
The press release states that Avelo will “continue to operate a six-aircraft base” at Tweed “without major changes to the existing network or to its Crewmember employment at the airport.”
Across the country, Avelo will be “streamlining its network” around four different locations: New Haven’s Tweed airport (HVN); Wilmington, Delaware’s ILG airport; Charlotte, North Carolina’s Douglas International Airport (USA), and Lakeland, Florida’s airport (LAL). Avelo will also open a base at the McKinney, Texas airport (TKI) in “late 2026,” and it will close bases in Mesa, Arizona (AZA); Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (RDU); and Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM).
“Concurrent with these network changes, Avelo will make near-term schedule changes that will impact many Customer itineraries. Communication will be sent directly to impacted Customers by email and text. Customers needing additional help can seek assistance from Avelo’s Customer Support Center.”
Avelo will also modify its fleet to remove six Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 aircraft, “leaving the airline primarily operating its more efficient Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft. These changes enable Avelo to focus on sustainably scaling five core bases in 2026 and to prepare the company for growth in the coming years, facilitated by the company’s recent order for up to 100 Embraer 195-E2 aircraft.”
Tuesday’s press release ends by stating that Avelo will continue to fly directly from Tweed to the following 24 destinations:
- Atlanta, Ga. (ATL)
- Charleston, S.C. (CHS)
- Charlotte / Concord, N.C. (USA)
- Chicago, Ill. (via ORD)
- Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (DFW)
- Daytona Beach, Fla. (DAB)
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (FLL)
- Fort Myers, Fla. (RSW)
- Greenville / Spartanburg, S.C. (GSP)
- Houston, Texas (Hobby) (HOU)
- Jacksonville, Fla. (JAX)
- Key West, Fla. (EYW)
- Lakeland / Orlando, Fla. (LAL)
- Myrtle Beach, S.C. (MYR)
- Nashville, Tenn. (BNA)
- Orlando, Fla. (MCO)
- Raleigh / Durham, N.C. (RDU)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
- Sarasota / Bradenton, Fla. (SRQ)
- Savannah, Ga. / Hilton Head, S.C. (SAV)
- Tampa, Fla. (TPA)
- Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Md. (BWI)
- West Palm Beach, Fla. (PBI)
- Wilmington, N.C. (ILM)
“New Haven is Avelo’s largest base – employing nearly 300 Crewmembers and offering service to 24 nonstop destinations,” Tuesday’s press release states. “Since taking flight from HVN in November 2021, Avelo has flown more than four million Customers at Tweed on over 30,000 flights.”
All of this comes as Tweed New Haven Airport continues to move forward with plans to extend its runway and build a new, larger terminal on the East Haven side of the property in a bid to attract more commercial airfare. Avelo and fellow budget airline Breeze are the only two commercial carriers currently operating out of Tweed. Critics of the airport’s expansion, meanwhile, have consistently warned of increased flooding, air pollution, and excess noise and traffic that comes with a larger airport.
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