Avelo Airlines are facing a violent reaction to help Trump’s Surgical campaign

In the four years since its first trip, Avelo Airlines has gained loyal customers through the service Smaller cities Like New Haven, Kon, Borbank, California.

Now, it has a very new set of business. He runs the Trump administration deportations.

Despite weeks of protests from agents and elected officials, it seems that the first flight of AVEO for migration and customs enforcement has left on Monday morning from Maysa, Arizona, according to data from aviation tracking services and Flightradar24.

According to Flightaware, the plane is expected to arrive early in the afternoon at Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana, one of the five sites where Ice takes regular flights. Avelo refused to comment on the trip and ICE did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The airline decision to support President Trump’s efforts to accelerate migrant deportations is unusual and risky. Snow showcases many flights, but they are usually operated by unknown airlines. Commercial transport companies usually avoid this type of work so as not to wander in politics and disturb customers or employees.

Avelo risks may be greater because a large percentage of its trips either lands or takes off from cities where most people are progressive or centers who are less likely to support the difficult immigration policies of Mr. Trump. More than 90 percent of Airlines arrived or left From the coastal states last year, according to Cirium, a data company. Almost one in four birds from or from New Haven.

“This is really risky and truly risks,” said Alison Taylor, a professor at the New York University’s Business Administration, who focuses on corporate ethics and responsibility. “The main headlines and the general human side in this do not play very well.”

But Avelo, supported by private sector investors and is managed by executive officials who came from large airlines, is struggling financially.

Andrew Levy, founder of the airline, Andrew Levy, said in an internal email message, which was reviewed by the New York Times, that the money that the company will work from earning it from very good ice flights. He said that flights will help stabilize Avelo money, as the airline faced more competition, especially in New Haveen and near it, which is home to the night and where the airline operates more than ten flights a day.

“After broad deliberations with our board of directors and our senior leaders, we concluded that this new opportunity was of great value to not follow up.”

While the army carries out some deportations, ICE relies heavily on private airlines. There is little general information about these flights, which arranged in the first place through a broker, CSI Aviation, said Tom Cartrait, a retired flight executive official for years, with a volunteer with a witness to the border. He said most of them are managed by small airlines, Globalx Air and Eastern Air Express.

Globalx started its operations in 2021 and is conducting flights to the federal government, university basketball teams, casinos, flight applicants and others. It has grown quickly and brought 220 million dollars in the past year, but it is not profitable yet. This year, it operated the deportation trips to Brazil and Salvador. Eastern Air Express is part of the Eastern Airlines, and it is a private company.

Globalx and Eastern Airlines did not respond to the suspension requests.

The contracts for these flights provide fixed revenues, and business is less likely to change in economic conditions than traditional passengers. Written by Mr. Cartrait, which is based on a variety of sources, ICE runs nearly 8,000 trips throughout the year, which ended in April, most of them within the United States. CSI Aviation alone has received hundreds of millions of dollars from ICE contracts in recent years, according to federal data.

Avelo’s decision was met last month to join these rapid reversal trips.

Within days of Mr. Levy’s internal announcement, the New Haffen Migrant Alliance, a group of groups supporting migrants’ rights, began a campaign to pressure AVEO to drop flights. and Seam online The coalition started more than 37,000 signatures. The protests also appeared near airports in the state of Contecticut, Dilayer, California and Florida that Avelo serves.

Democratic conservatives in Contelo and Dillauir, while lawmakers in Connecticut and New York have issued proposals to withdraw state support, including a tax break on jet fuel purchases, from companies working with ICE.

William Tong, the Democratic Public Prosecutor in Connecticut, demanded answers to Mr. Levyfrom delayed To the federal government. In a statement last month, Mr. Tong described Mr. Levy’s response as “insulting and waiving.”

The CWA, a federation representing flight attendants in 20 airlines, including Avelo, has raised concerns. The Federation pointed out that the migrants who were deported by the Trump administration have been placed in restrictions, which may make anti -aviation functions more difficult.

“The existence of a full journey of people is confined and that would hinder any evacuation and injury in risk or death,” Al -Ittihad said in a statement. “It also impedes our ability to respond to the medical emergency, fire on board, remove pressure, etc. We cannot take our functions in these circumstances.”

Avello said that, according to a deal with ICE, it will make flights inside and outside the United States, using three Boeing 737-800 aircraft. To deal with these flights, the airline opened a base at the Mesa Gateway airport and began to employ pilots and the attendance of the aviation and other employees.

In a statement, Mr. Levy, the former CEO of United Airlines and Algiant Air, said that the airline has not gently entered the contract.

“We realize that this is a sensitive and complex issue,” he said. “After great deliberations, we decided that this charter flight will provide us with stability to continue to expand our basic scheduled passenger service and to maintain more than 1,100 staff working for years to come.”

The Houston -based airline said it runs similar flights to Biden Administration. “When our country calls, our practice is to say yes,” he said in a separate statement.

In the email last month, Mr. Levy celebrated the fact that Avelo broke nearly 2024, losing only $ 500,000 over $ 310 million of revenues. He said that the airline needs to raise more money from investors. The performance this year has suffered with a decrease in the confidence of the national consumer, and the airline faces the rise a race.

Mr. Levy said in the email, that Avelo was looking for revenues “fortified from these issues.” To accommodate ice flights, the airline also reduced its presence at an airport in Santa Rosa, California.

Avelo raised more than $ 190 million, most of which were in 2020 and 2022, according to Luk. An email told Mr. Levy that the airline was hoping to secure new financing this summer.