SANTA ROSA, Calif.—Low-cost airline carrier Avelo will open a new base in Arizona, offering deportation flying services for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and reduce its commercial services at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport in Northern California.
The company has signed a deal with ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, for a “long-term charter program” to support deportation efforts, Avelo said in an emailed statement on April 10.
“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” Avelo Airlines founder and CEO Andrew Levy said in the statement.
“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 also flew these charters under the Biden administration, according to the statement.
“Regardless of the administration or party affiliation, as a U.S. flag carrier when our country calls and requests assistance our practice is to say yes.”
Avelo Airlines will start the operations, both domestic and international, on May 12, supported by three Boeing 737-800s at a new base at Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona.
A company spokesperson, Courtney Goff, told The Epoch Times via email, “These charters will not have an effect on our commercial operations, they are completely separate.”
Also in May, the airline plans to cut four out of eight commercial routes at the Sonoma County Airport, close its base there after its opening last year, and shift base operations to Burbank Airport in Southern California, according to the North Bay Business Journal.
The cut routes include Sonoma to Boise, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah; Ontario, California; and Kalispell, Montana.
The changes were made due to lower than expected demand and poor financial results at the Sonoma airport, the company said in a separate statement provided to media outlets.
The Avelo base in Sonoma County introduced four new destinations one year ago, doubling its nonstop routes from the airport, according to a news release from the company. Those routes served Boise, Kalispell, Portland, Oregon, and Pasco, Washington.
Avelo will still keep routes at Sonoma airport to and from Bend/Redmond, Oregon; Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles/Burbank; and Palm Springs, California.
Avelo focuses on providing nonstop flights to “primarily underserved communities across the country,” according to the company. It currently serves 56 destinations across the United States, Jamaica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas.
