Houston-based Avelo Airlines, an ultra-low-cost carrier, is facing passenger boycotts after news reports surfaced that the Trump Administration would be chartering some of its planes for ICE deportation flights from Arizona.
Flights will be used to move deportees to other countries, as well as within the U.S. from point to point.
A petition at Change.org noted that the airline has signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration Control and Enforcement agency to carry out deportation flights from Mesa, Arizona and that it is currently recruiting staff for these flights.
A leaked internal memo said the deportation flights will make up for operating losses at New Haven, Connecticut's Tweed Airport (HVN). Almost 30,000 people had signed the petition as of Friday.
The airline also announced that it was shutting down an operation base and reducing flights at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, located north of San Francisco. Avelo released a statement to a local television station there, saying that the changes were related to the ICE charters.
"We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. 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 crewmembers employed for years to come."
Avelo flies Boeing 737 aircraft from seven U.S. airports. Including the two mentioned above, the airline serves Hollywood Burbank Airport in California, Wilmington Airport in Delaware, Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Lakeland International Airport in Florida, and Charlotte’s Concord-Padgett Regional Airport.
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