Thomas Breen file photo
Avelo CEO Levy, at Tweed in 2021: DHS contract "too valuable not to pursue."
A budget airline decided to run deportation flights for the Trump administration to make up for financial struggles spurred by increased competition at Tweed New Haven Airport.
Avelo Airlines CEO Andrew Levy laid out that rationale in an April 3 internal-company email sent to Avelo employees.
He wrote that, while the company’s decision to support President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts may strike some as “controversial,” the opportunity proved “too valuable not to pursue, as it will help us stabilize our finances and allow us to continue our journey.”
Levy’s email sheds further light on why the company will be partnering 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 already earned the company a public rebuke from Mayor Justin Elicker and a letter from state Attorney General William Tong lambasting Avelo for enabling Trump administration “atrocities.” It’s also made Avelo the subject of an online boycott campaign organized by local immigrant rights activists. As of the publication time of this article, that petition had garnered more than 4,700 signatures.
Avelo currently flies more than two dozen direct routes out of New Haven after making Tweed its East Coast hub in November 2021.
In public statements, 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.”
Levy made clear in his April 3 internal-company email that Avelo’s New Haven passenger-travel business has suffered financially in recent months. That’s thanks to a steep increase in competition, including from Breeze Airways, a budget airline that is the only other commercial carrier that currently flies routes out of Tweed.
“The primary reason Avelo’s performance did not meet expectations in Q12025 centers around New Haven (HVN), which until now has been a source of strength in our portfolio,” Levy wrote in that April 3 email. “As expected, Breeze’s arrival in New Haven and competition in six markets hurt our results. But perhaps even more impactful has been the substantial increase in competitive seat capacity in nearby airports from JetBlue, Breeze, Frontier, Spirit, and others.”
He wrote that, in the first quarter of 2025, seats to markets served by Avelo “increased by over 20%” from Tweed, Bradley, and White Plains airports. That competition has led Avelo to post “our worst quarterly results since 2023, breaking a string of year-over-year improvements.”
Levy also blamed Tweed’s airport management company, Avports, for Avelo’s recent struggles in New Haven. He wrote that Avports “overscheduled flights at the airport by ignoring scheduling rules in place since we started flying there in November 2021. This created a terrible experience for our Customers and our Crewmembers. We believe this had — and may still be having — a negative effect on our HVN revenue.”
A Tweed airport spokesperson dismissed this Avports critique as “both bizarre and untrue.” The spokesperson described Tweed as “the fastest-expanding airport in the country” over the past year. “In fact, it’s clear that HVN’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.”
Levy’s April 3 email continued by identifying, “perhaps of greatest concern,” the “unmistakable evidence of a decline in consumer confidence, which means consumers are more likely to take one less trip, instead of one more. Consumer confidence numbers are especially negative in the Northeast, so it is one more factor affecting HVN performance. This behavioral shift by consumers is visible across our entire network, not just in Connecticut.”
To make up for revenue lost in the realm of passenger travel at Tweed, Levy wrote, Avelo has turned to “long-term charter programs” — including with the federal government.
That’s how Avelo ended up signing the contract with ICE to run deportation flights out of Mesa, Ariz., starting on May 12.
“I realize some may view the decision to fly for DHS as controversial,” Levy wrote. “While these flights have been regularly occurring for over forty years, they are currently receiving an increased amount of media attention. After extensive deliberations with our board of directors and our senior leaders, we concluded this new opportunity was too valuable not to pursue, as it will help us stabilize our finances and allow us to continue our journey. Regardless of your personal views on current political events, I know we will all continue to focus on providing the high-quality service Avelo has become known for.”
In a follow-up comment provided to the Independent on Monday, Levy added through a company spokesperson, “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.”
An Avelo spokesperson, Courtney Goff, declined to comment on Levy’s April 4 email besides the statements that Avelo had sent out on Monday about its new deportation-flight contract.
Someone with knowledge of the airline industry nationwide, who asked to remain anonymous due to the volatility of the current political moment, questioned Avelo’s decision to justify its ICE deportation contract by pointing to struggles with its passenger-travel business.
“Every individual and company must define their morals by what their conscience can sustain,” he said. “They must own those decisions fully, without shifting blame for their ethical path. It’s striking that Avelo justifies its moral stance by suggesting other forces left them no choice — akin to ‘they made me do it.’ As an old stalwart once said, ‘Now is no time to go wobbly’ — especially when morality money is on the line.”