Avelo quits California: LCC withdraws from West Coast amid deportation flight backlash
July 16, 2025
Texas-based low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines is withdrawing from its only US West Coast base, at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR).
The move leaves Avelo with bases along the East Coast, from Connecticut to Florida.
On 12 August, Avelo will cut its Burbank operation from two aircraft to one. On 2 December, the airline will withdraw entirely.
Avelo struggled amid ‘competitive backdrop’
Andrew Levy, CEO of Avelo Airlines, said: “There is rarely one singular reason why decisions like this are made, and this one is no different.
“We believe the continuation of service from Burbank in the current operating environment will not deliver adequate financial returns in a highly competitive backdrop.”
The carrier has faced a backlash in recent months over its decision to operate deportation flights under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security. Several groups had called for a boycott of the airline.
The decision to pull out of BUR will impact many smaller, regional airports in the region, including those in Montana, Oregon, Washington and northern California.
Sonoma County will lose Avelo flights to five destinations served via aircraft from the Burbank base.
The airport’s manager, Jon Stout, told local press: “[Avelo’s] West Coast difficulties have been going on for a while.
“They tried to increase utilisation and frequencies to get to an economy of scale. They just didn’t seem to get to the scale they needed for the West Coast to work.”
Did deportation flights impact decision?
Avelo has insisted that the protests over its contract with the DHS did not impact its decision to close the base.
Avelo spokeswoman Madison Glassman also said Burbank was the only hub the airline will close this year.
The carrier operates a fleet of 21 Boeing 737 aircraft, to 53 destinations across the United States, Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
In addition to Burbank, it has bases at Southern Connecticut’s Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN), the Philadelphia / Delaware Valley region’s Wilmington Airport (ILG), Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), Central Florida’s Lakeland International Airport (LAL), Charlotte’s Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (USA), and Coastal North Carolina’s Wilmington International Airport (ILM).
