A spokesperson for Avelo Airlines on Wednesday told Connecticut Public it would end its controversial practice of operating deportation flights for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Avelo will close the base at [Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona] on January 27 and will conclude all participation in the DHS charter program,” Avelo spokesperson Courtney Goff said in a statement.
The budget airline with a major presence at Tweed New Haven Airport has been the target of demonstrations against its practice of operating deportation flights out of the Mesa airport since last year. In a statement first reported by the New Haven Independent, Avelo clarified that the decision to end the deportation flights was strictly financial.
“The program provided short-term benefits but ultimately did not deliver enough consistent and predictable revenue to overcome its operational complexity and costs,” Goff said.
Still, activists involved in the demonstrations celebrated the change as a win. Anne Watkins is a member of the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, which has participated in protests against Avelo over the deportation flights since last year.
“Doing ICE’s dirty work doesn’t pay,” Watkins said. “We're really happy about that. We would like everyone, every business that's profiting from this deportation and detention machine, to stop partnering with ICE in the same way.”
“Avelo is not alone, but we sure are glad for the win today,” she said. “We're really thrilled that they've decided to stop participating in human trafficking and kidnapping, detention and deportation of people, of our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues, our kids’ teachers.”
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who has been critical of Avelo’s participation in deportation operations, issued a statement.
“If this means that Avelo is no longer electing to profit from Trump’s cruel and reckless deportation program, the separation of families, deportation of children and citizens, and denial of due process rights, then it’s about time,” Tong said.
“They’ve got a lot of work ahead of them to earn back the trust of this state,” he said. “I hope that they can.”
