Discount carrier Avelo Airlines will cease operating deportation flights on behalf of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), citing inconstent revenue and operational complexity.
The decision coincides with Avelo’s recently announced plan to close its crew base at Mesa Gateway airport in the greater Phoenix area.
The low-cost carrier tells FlightGlobal on 7 January it will close the Mesa base on 27 January and “conclude all participation” in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charter programme.
Such charter flights ”provided short-term benefits but ultimately did not deliver enough consistent and predictable revenue to overcome its operational complexity and costs”, the airline says.
Avelo has been quick to emphasise that it conducted immigration charter flights on behalf of the Biden administration prior to signing a charter agreement with DHS in May 2025, though the extent of those operations is unclear.
The airline maintains it “did not see an impact regarding customers choosing to fly”, as it flew 11% more passengers in 2025 than in the previous year, despite “minimal seat growth”.
“Our load factor also increased from 2024,” it says.
Avelo is making cuts to its fleet and network, with plans to withdraw from Mesa as well as bases in Raleigh-Durham and Wilmington, North Carolina.
Avelo will focus on its remaining bases in New Haven, Connecticut; Charlotte, North Carolina; Lakeland, Florida; and Philadelphia/Delaware Valley. It plans to open a fifth base in McKinney, Texas – located in the greater Dallas region – late in 2026.
Additionally, the Houston-based carrier plans to remove six Boeing 737-700s from its fleet, leaving it to “primarily” operate “more-efficient” 737-800s.
Fleet data provided by aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that Avelo operates 22 mid-life Boeing narrowbodies, including eight 737-700s and 14 737-800s.
