A boycott of Avelo Airlines launched Wednesday at Tweed New Haven Airport in response to the airline's decision to charter Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) deportation flights out of Mesa, Arizona, for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The airline said the flights, which are set to begin next month, will be carried out by 737-800 airplanes based at Mesa Gateway Airport.
One of the protesters, Veronica Ubaldo, said she attended the rally to advocate for migrant communities. Ubaldo is an organizer for Make the Road Connecticut, a progressive grassroots, immigrant-led organization.
“My granddaughter's best friend's father got picked up a month ago," Ubaldo said. "And this is my granddaughter, 9 years old."
The boycott is being sponsored by several groups, including Connecticut Climate Crisis Mobilization and CT Shoreline Indivisible.
Word of the boycott spread on social media through an online petition. Organizers said: “We reject Trump’s inhumane deportations and reject that Avelo, which operates from New Haven, profits from it. “
Bill Hunter and his wife, Karen Hunter, traveled from New Fairfield to New Haven to protest against Avelo. They say Avelo's actions made them reflect on their ability to go about their daily lives without looking over their shoulders, as do many migrants.
There were a few protesters who spoke Spanish but were less vocal than others. Many, Ubaldo said, were unwilling to risk attention.
Bill Hunter said he and his wife never protested until President Donald Trump won the 2024 election.
Hunter, who used to be a teacher in New York, said he probably worked with or taught people who might have been undocumented.
Now he grapples with his privilege as a U.S. citizen.
“I don't ever have to think and worry about the things that immigrants have to worry about," Hunter said. "I know that I can go to the safety of my home and I'm protected as a citizen of this country, and I think about it all the time.”
Avelo says its long-term charter program will provide “domestic and international trips to support DHS’s deportation efforts,” according to an April 2025 job posting.
Avelo’s CEO Andrew Levy acknowledged that the flights are what he called a “sensitive and complicated topic.”
However, Levy also said the company decided to charter the flights to enable Avelo to continue expansion and keep crewmembers employed “for years to come.”
Avelo is based in Houston and added flights out of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks in November 2024.
State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, a Democrat, is among various Connecticut leaders who have condemned Avelo's actions. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Attorney General William Tong have also blasted the company.
“When issues of humane and ethical principles compete with the profit motive and financial incentives, the principles, unfortunately, frequently lose,” Looney said. “Avelo Airlines’ decision to contract with the federal government to operate deportation flights is a disgraceful capitulation to profit over humane concerns.”
