Millionth Avelo Customer Takes Off From Tweed

Jorge Oquendo (pictured) Friday became the one millionth customer to fly to or from Tweed New Haven Airport since Avelo Airlines set up shop here 17 months ago.

Or did he?

Wait. Maybe it was Paula Cabray (pictured).

Hmmm. It turned out nobody knew for sure which of the 182 customers gathered at Gate 1 for the 2:25 p.m. flight from Tweed to Fort Myers, Florida, counted as exactly number 1 million. But Avelo knew that someone on that plane enabled the airline to cross that threshold, reflecting its hypersonic growth in now connecting New Haven to 15 different destinations.

So Tweed threw a party for all the flight’s passengers. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (pictured) joined the mayor and officials from Avelo and Avports (which manages the airport) in handing out commemorative cards.

Then, once they passed through the gate and boarded, the travelers all received free two-way tickets for future flights of their choices. Passengers like Oquendo and Cabray reflected why the Avelo leisure flights have caught on (as opposed to business service, which struggled to catch on during previous carriers’ attempts). Oquendo, a factory supervisor, said he drove from New Britain to Tweed for the first time to fly out for a vacation because it was cheaper and easier than flying from Bradley. Cabray has already flown ​“at least 20 times” from Tweed on Avelo to visit with family down South. 

At a press conference before the takeoff, the government and industry officials trumpeted the company’s growth, its creation of 200 local jobs, the competition it’s offering larger carriers. Click on the video to watch highlights.

This latest flying milestone comes as Tweed plans to build a longer runway and larger airport on the East Haven side of the property. Click here to read about the ongoing contested environmental review of that expansion plan, with airport boosters backing it as reducing air and noise pollution, and critics lambasting such an assessment as ​“greenwashing.”

“There are so many people who are from our community that are getting jobs in this airport … at all levels of the economic spectrum,” said Mayor Justin Elicker (pictured).

There was also time pre-liftoff for Julia Morgillo (second from right) and fellow flight attendants to pose with the senator. Morgillo is following in the flightsteps of her mom Patricia Morgillo, who worked as a Southwest flight attendant for 12 years after retiring from a 32-year career as a teacher and administrator in New Haven Public Schools. 

Then, as new Tweed-based head Avelo honcho Giselle Cortes (previously a JetBlue exec) came out on the tarmac …

… Flight 357 took off for Fort Myers, with customer number 1 million …

… whoever that was.