The price range service mentioned all West Coast operations will finish by early December.
BURBANK, Calif. — Finances airline Avelo Airways introduced Monday it’ll shut its base at Hollywood Burbank Airport and finish all West Coast operations by December, citing monetary struggles in a aggressive market.
The Houston-based service mentioned it’ll scale back its Burbank operation to 1 plane on Aug. 12 and finish all flights by Dec. 2. The choice successfully ends Avelo’s West Coast presence, the place the airline launched its first flight greater than 4 years in the past.
The announcement comes as Avelo has confronted criticism over its settlement with the Division of Homeland Safety to conduct deportation flights. The airline started federal deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport outdoors Phoenix in Could below a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ICE settlement sparked boycott campaigns and protests at airports throughout the nation.
The plane at present stationed at Burbank can be moved to markets on the East Coast, the place the corporate sees “considerably extra alternative to proceed our path to sustainable money circulation technology,” based on the assertion.
“We imagine the continuation service from BUR within the present working surroundings won’t ship ample monetary returns in a extremely aggressive backdrop,” an Avelo spokesperson mentioned in a press release. The spokesperson mentioned the airline had invested “important time, assets and efforts” to enhance West Coast monetary outcomes however had not achieved vital returns.
The closure will have an effect on all West Coast flights, that means routes to locations like Eureka, Calif., Salem, Ore., and different regional airports will finish.
Avelo, which launched in 2021 in the course of the pandemic, operates a fleet of older Boeing 737 jets from secondary airports to serve routes ignored by main airways. The service reported its first worthwhile quarter in late 2023 however has not disclosed detailed monetary info.
The airline will proceed working at greater than 40 cities throughout america, in addition to worldwide locations in Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Affected prospects have been notified about modifications to their reservations and refund choices.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
