In an attempt to reduce the costs of carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation plans, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached an agreement with a Houston-based budget airline to conduct removal flights from Arizona.
Starting in May, Avelo Airlines will open a new base out of Arizona that will facilitate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to carry out deportation flights by using three aircrafts to "support the department's deportation efforts."
As reported by the Associated Press, an Avelo Airlines spokesperson said the planes will include three Boeing 737-800 planes and that domestic and international flights are set to start on May 12.
Andrew Levy, founder and CEO of the Houston-based airline, said the agreement with DHS and ICE is part of a "long-term charger program" to support the agency's deportation efforts and that the company decided the move would help with expansion and job protection.
"We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic," Levy said in a statement. "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," he added.
According to Tom Cartwright, a flight data analyst for the advocacy group Witness at the Border, in the past five years, there are no indications of other commercial airlines providing such flights for ICE.
Although it is rare for charter companies to provide such services for government agencies, it is not the first time airlines are used to carry out deportation flights. For example, during Trump's first term, major companies such as United, American and Delta Airlines facilitated more than 1,200 deportation flights to Central America.
More recently, GlobalX was under scrutiny after flight attendants detailed harrowing conditions at deportation flights. Speaking to ProPublica, flight attendants who refused to reveal their names, discussed concerns about potential medical emergencies, mechanical failures, and their inability to ensure passenger safety, particularly given the shackles that restrained deportees from wrists to ankles.
Flight attendants also reported broken air conditioning, malfunctioning bathrooms, and a lack of clear safety protocols for emergencies. Some expressed fears that, in the event of an evacuation, the shackled passengers could not be moved off the plane in time. Some tried to discreetly acknowledge detainees with small gestures, like responding to a greeting, while others recalled being discouraged from offering food to children.
The guards, in contrast, often treated flight attendants as personal staff, they said. Some flight attendants said they feared retaliation from GlobalX management if they attempted to enforce FAA safety regulations on the guards. In multiple cases, attendants who asked guards to follow seatbelt or carry-on rules were reported to supervisors and later reprimanded.
As Avelo Airlines prepares to carry out deportation flights from Arizona, a local immigrant advocacy group in New Haven, Connecticut is urning people to sign an online petition pledging to boycott the airline. Similarly, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker told the New Haven Register he called Avelo Airlines CEO over the weekend to express his opposition to the agreement and urged Levy to reconsider his stance.
"Avelo Airlines' decision to charter deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona is deeply disappointing and disturbing," Elicker said. "For a company that champions themselves as 'New Haven's hometown airline,' this business decision in antithetical to New Haven's values," Elicker added.
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