Avelo Airlines, the low-cost air carrier with a major presence at Tweed New Haven Airport, said Wednesday it will halt controversial deportation flights under a $150 million contract with the federal government that sparked waves of protests and calls for a boycott.
Avelo said it will close its base at Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona and cease all participation in providing charter service to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as of Jan. 27. The charter flights first started taking off eight months ago, and protestors alleged hundreds have taken place.
“The program provided short-term benefits but ultimately did not deliver enough consistent and predictable revenue to overcome its operational complexity and costs,” Courtney Goff, an Avelo spokesperson, said, in a statement.
Goff said the decision was not based on concerns that air travelers were shunning Avelo because of its involvement in deportations.
“We did not see an impact regarding customers choosing to fly,” Goff said.
In 2025, Avelo carried a record 2.6 million customers nationally on scheduled commercial service, 11% higher than in 2024, with minimal seat growth, the airline said. Avelo’s load factor, or seat occupancy, also increased from 2024, according to the airline.
Avelo Airlines takes off on its first flight from Tweed New Haven Airport in 2021. (Kenneth R. Gosselin/Hartford Courant)
“With our unique combination of everyday low fares, easy and convenient to use base airports, delivered with leading reliability, it’s no surprise that customers continue to embrace us,” Goff said.
MA/CT Stop Avelo, an active organizer of protests against the Avelo charter flights, did not have an immediate comment Wednesday.
In New Haven, Mayor Justin Elicker, a Democrat, had called Avelo chief executive Andrew Levy to express his opposition to the flights and urged Levy to reconsider, the Associated Press reported in April after the charter flights were first announced,
Elicker told the AP at the time that the flights were “deeply disappointing and disturbing. For a company that champions themselves as ‘New Haven’s hometown airline,’ this business decision is antithetical to New Haven’s values.”
Late Tuesday, Houston-based Avelo announced a restructuring plan that includes the closure of bases in Mesa, AZ, Raleigh-Durham, NC and Wilmington, NC. The plan calls for streamlining its network around four existing bases: New Haven, the airline’s largest base; Philadelphia/Delaware Valley, Charlotte/Concord NC and Central Florida/Lakeland. In addition, a new base will open in Dallas/McKinney TX later this year.
In October, Avelo confirmed it would pull out of Bradley International Airport at the end of this month, citing revenues in the market not covering the costs. The explanation was challenged by the Connecticut Airport Authority, which runs Bradley, the state’s largest commercial airport.
Avelo said the restructuring will leave the budget airline, launched in 2021, recapitalized and in a cash position one of the strongest for airlines of its size.
The airline sought to reassure that its commitment to Tweed has not changed. In February, Avelo said it will increase its flight frequency from Tweed to West Palm Beach, FL. In addition, Avelo will continue service to 23 other nonstop destinations.
Avelo said it employs nearly 300 that are based at Tweed. Since 2021, Avelo has flown more than four million passengers at Tweed on over 30,000 flights.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
