The AVELO budget airline begins ice deporting flights from the airport near Phoenix, while protesters ask boycott from the traveler

An airline of budget that serves mostly in North cities -American started on Monday the Federal Deportation flights of Arizona, a play that inspired an online boycott request and a strong critic of the union representing the carrier’s flight attendees.

Avelo Airlines announced in April He had signed an agreement with the National Security Department for nautical deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport outside Phoenix. Said he will use three Boeing 737-800 aircraft for flights.

The Houston -based airline is among a number of companies seeking to collect President Donald Trump’s campaign formass deportations.

Congressional deliberations began last monthA tax billWith a financing goal, in part, theElimination of a million immigrantsAnnually and houses 100,000 people at the United States detention centers. The GOP Plan is calling for 10,000 North -Americans

Details of Avelo Agreement with ICE does not spread

Avelo launched himself in 2021, as Covid-19 still raised and billions of taxpayers reached large airlines. It saves money mainly flying 737 older aircraft that can be bought at relatively low prices. And it works from less and less expensive airports, flying routes that are ignored by large airlines. He said he had the first profitable quarter at the end of 2023.

Andrew Levy, Founder and CEO of Avelo, said he announced the agreement last month that the work of the Airline for ICE would help the company expand and protect jobs.

“We realize that this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” said Levy, an air industry veteran with previous slopes as a superior executive than United and allegiating Airlines.

Avelo did not grant an interview request from Associated Press.

The financial details and others of the Avelo agreement, including the destinations of deportation flights, have not appeared publicly. The AP asked Avelo and Ice a copy of the agreement, but did not provide the document either. The airline said he was not authorized to release the contract.

Several consumer brands have been associated with deportations, a highly volatile problem that could be away from customers. During Trump’s first term, the authoritiesMigrant children stayed at hotelsAsking for some hotel chains to say they would not participate.

Union cites security problems

Many companies in the deportation business such asProviders of the detention centerThe GEO group and the CIVIC CORE, rely on the consumption brand. No Avelo, whose movement inspired the boycott request to Change.org and criticized the union of carrier’s flights attendees, which cited the difficulty of evacuating the deportees of a plane in case of emergency within the federal standard of 90 seconds or less.

“Having a whole flight of handcuffed and ruined people would hinder any evacuation and risk or death injuries,” said Vol-Cwa attendees in a statement. “It also prevents our ability to respond to a medical emergency, fire on board, decompression, etc. We cannot do our job in these conditions.”

In New Haven, Connecticut, where Avelo leaves Tweed New Haven Airport, Democratic Mayor Justin Licker, urged Avelo’s CEO to reconsider. “For a company that is championi as a” Natal Airline of New Haven, “this business decision is antithetical of New Haven’s values,” Aliker said in a statement.

Protests were held outside Arizona and Connecticut Airports.

In Mesa, more than 30 protesters gathered on a road to the airport, with signs that reported Trump’s deportation efforts. In Connecticut, about 150 people gathered outside of Tweed New Haven airport, asking travelers to boycott Avelo.

John Jairo Lugo, co -founder and organizing director of the Latin Unidad Community in Action in New Haven, said that protesters expect to create a financial incentive for Avelo to do his work for the federal government.

“We need to cause economic damage to the company to convince them that they should be with the people and not with the government,” said Lugo.

Mesa is one of the five hubs for deportation operations of ice air companies

Mesa, a Phoenix suburb with about 500,000 people, is one of the five hubs for Ice Air, the air transport operation of the immigration agency for deportations. Ice Air operated about 8,000 flights in a period of 12 months until April, according to the Testimony of the Advocacy Group group on the border.

ICE is hired with an aerial agent, CSI Aviation, who hires two chartered carriers (Globalx and Eastern Air Express) to make most of the flights, said Tom Cartwright, who tracks flight data for witnesses on the border.

Cartwright said it was unusual in recent years that commercial passenger carriers would carry out deportation flights.

“He has always been with an aerial agent who later contracts carriers and carriers have not been regular commercial operators, or what I call retail carriers, who sell their own tickets,” said Cartwright. “At least since I have been involved (in the monitoring of ice flights), all have been nautical companies.”

Avelo will be a sub -porter by virtue of a CSI Avoid contract, based on New Mexico, who did not answer questions about the amount of money that Avelo would have under the agreement.

Avelo offers passenger service in more than 50 cities in the United States, as well as locations in Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Avelo does not operate a regular commercial passenger service at Mesa Gateway Airport, said airport spokesman Ryan Smith.

In February 2024, Avelo said he had the first profitable first quarter, although he did not provide details. In aInterview two months afterWith the AP, Levy refused to provide numbers, saying that the airline was a private company and did not need to provide this information publicly.

This story originally presented to Fortune.com

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