Laura Glesby file photo
Alders (except for Sal DeCola, second from left) to Avelo: Cut it out!
Avelo boycott, at the top of the Change.org "popular" list.
Twenty eight of 30 alders signed a letter calling on Avelo Airlines to immediately end any contracts it has to run deportation flights for the Trump administration — while the number of signatures on an online boycott campaign surged past 28,600.
Such is the latest with the ongoing local and statewide pushback to the budget airline’s decision to partner with the federal Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to charter deportation flights out of a new base in Mesa, Ariz., starting in May.
That decision has earned the condemnation of elected officials ranging from Mayor Justin Elicker to state Attorney General William Tong to State Sen. President Martin Looney. It’s also sparked an in-person protest and a grassroots online boycott campaign led by local immigrant rights activists.
As of the publication time of this article, that Change.org petition has 28,650 signatures. That online petition has been boosted by Change.org as one of the most popular campaigns currently running on the whole site.
The Board of Alders’ new letter, meanwhile, adds still more voices — 28, to be exact — to the chorus on criticism against Avelo.
Of the two alders missing from the list of signatures at the end of the letter, one, Beaver Hills’ Gary Hogan, attributed his absence to a “miscommunication.” He said he is supportive of the letter’s message, and now plans to sign it.
The other is Morris Cove’s Sal DeCola, who represents the ward that includes Tweed New Haven Airport. DeCola did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article.
The letter is dated April 8. The Independent obtained a copy of the letter on Friday. Click here to read the letter.
The letter is addressed to Andrew Levy, the CEO of the budget airline that flies more than two dozen direct routes out of Tweed after making New Haven its East Coast hub in November 2021.
“We, the undersigned members of the New Haven Board of Alders, write to express our deep concern and unequivocal condemnation of Avelo Airlines’ reported decision to enter into a contractual agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to operate deportation flights,” the letter begins.
It states that New Haven is a city that “takes great pride in being a welcoming home to immigrants from across the globe,” and that Avelo’s decision to contract with the Trump administration on deportation flights is “profoundly out of step with the spirit and character of our city.”
“Tweed is a public asset, built and sustained with the support of New Haven residents,” the letter continues, “and its expansion has been championed with the understanding that it would bring opportunity, accessibility, and uplift to the people of this region — not serve as a conduit for the forced separation of families through deportation.”
The letter concludes by calling on Avelo to “immediately and unequivocally terminate any existing or planned contracts with DHS or ICE related to deportation operations. New Haven stands firmly with our immigrant communities, and we urge you to demonstrate your respect for the people of this city by taking swift corrective action.”
In response to a request for comment for this article, Avelo spokesperson Courtney Goff said, “We acknowledge the weight of these concerns and will be discussing these concerns with Connecticut leaders.”
In public statements, Avelo Airlines CEO Andrew Levy has defended the deportation-flight contract as providing Avelo with some protection from“fluctuating fuel prices” and other “macroeconomic factors,” all in service of allowing the company to“grow our core business, which is scheduled passenger travel.”
An internal-company email Levy sent out on April 3 justified the deportation-flight contract as helping offset Avelo’s growing financial troubles at Tweed amid a steep increase in passenger-travel competition. A Tweed spokesperson has consistently dismissed this claim as “bizarre and untrue,” citing how Tweed’s “exceptional performance has helped power Avelo’s national expansion, as they have since expanded into new or slower-performing markets, all while Tweed continues to shatter previous records.”