Zoe Berg

Avelo Airlines quietly announced its decision to operate Department of Homeland Security deportation flights in an internal email last Thursday, making it the first known commercial airline to partner with the Trump administration in its mass deportation effort. Per CEO Andrew Levy, part of the reason lies in New Haven.

Poor performance at New Haven’s Tweed Airport was key in pushing the airline to carry out deportation flights, according to an internal email from Levy to all crewmembers obtained by the News. Levy wrote that in the first quarter of 2025, the company will report its worst quarterly results since 2023, pushing the company to turn to more steady streams of revenue. 

“The primary reason Avelo’s performance did not meet expectations in Q12025 centers around New Haven (HVN), which until now has been a source of strength in our portfolio,” Levy wrote in the email. “After extensive deliberations with our board of directors and our senior leaders, we concluded this new opportunity [deportation flights] was too valuable not to pursue, as it will help us stabilize our finances and allow us to continue our journey.”

Avelo confirmed the veracity of the email to the News.

The airline will open a base at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona and designate three Boeing 737 airplanes to facilitate the flights, which will begin on May 12. The company has listed job postings for attendants for deportation flights. 

The announcement that Avelo would aid in deportations triggered condemnation from New Haven locals and officials, including a boycott petition that has amassed over 2,800 signatures as of Monday night.

Tweed performance suffers

New Haven is a hub for Avelo — making up over 50 percent of the airline’s business, according to the email. The airline markets itself as “Connecticut’s Hometown Airline.” Beginning service in May 2021, Avelo has since expanded service from the airport, with over 480,000 passengers traveling through Tweed New Haven Airport in 2024.

But in the first quarter of 2025, competition in the New Haven area market increased by more than twenty times the national average, according to the internal email.

In the email, Levy blames the airport’s weak performance in New Haven on three factors: increased competition from Breeze Airways and other airlines in nearby airports in Hartford and White Plains, N.Y., falling consumer confidence in air travel and overscheduling by Tweed Airport. Levy claims that the Tweed Airport management firm, Avports, had been ignoring scheduling rules that had been in place since Avelo started service at Tweed.

“These claims are both bizarre and untrue,” said a spokesperson for Avports. “The success and popularity of Tweed New Haven Airport over the past year are well-documented, driven entirely by the dynamic and thriving Connecticut market.”

The Avports spokesperson noted that Avelo Airways announced new routes and service increases in response to Breeze Airways starting service to the airport in December 2024. These flights have stressed airport facilities with increased passenger traffic and forced quicker turnaround times, he added.

The increased passenger traffic has additionally led to greater traffic congestion surrounding the airport. In response to complaints from local residents, the time between flights was increased to 25-30 minutes from the previous 15 minutes.

To ease Avelo’s financial woes, Levy suggested a “long-term” solution.

“I realize some may view the decision to fly for DHS as controversial,” Levy wrote. “Regardless of your personal views on current political events, I know we will all continue to focus on providing the high-quality service Avelo has become known for.”

“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,” he added.

Avelo will shut down its base in Santa Rosa, Calif., to free up one plane for the deportation flights, but will continue to fly routes from Las Vegas, Redmond, Ore., Burbank, Calif. and Palm Springs seasonally.

Backlash from New Haven and beyond

A group of local advocacy organizations, New Haven Immigrants Coalition, launched a petition on Sunday demanding that Avelo’s CEO suspend its contract with DHS. In the text of the petition, organizers commit “to boycott Avelo as long as they are profiting from ICE flights.”

“It feels like a slap in the face, because we’ve been doing such hard work,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, the executive director of CT Students for a Dream, a Coalition member organization. “The City of New Haven is so welcoming to immigrants to the extent [that] there’s a Welcoming City ordinance. Having Avelo participate in these types of contracts is just deeply unaligned with what it means to be a New Havener.”

Sookdeo said Avelo’s contract was “morally wrong,” especially as the Trump administration escalates a hostile campaign against immigrants across the country.

In a statement to the New Haven Independent, Mayor Justin Elicker condemned the contract as an affront to the city’s values and welcoming posture towards immigrants. 

“While no one objects to deporting individuals who have committed violent crimes, it is well-documented that the Trump Administration is violating basic due process rights when it comes to our immigrant community, and we need corporations to step up and stand up to the Trump Administration’s unconstitutional, illegal and inhumane actions – not to be complicit with them,” Elicker said.

The fallout from the decision is not only limited to New Haven. According to a termination letter the News obtained from Avelo, at least one Avelo employee based in Raleigh-Durham International Airport was fired after he made an online post encouraging Avelo customers to avoid the company in light of its contract with ICE. 

Avelo currently serves four scheduled international destinations.