Budget airline Avelo pulling out of Sonoma County Airport after taking on ICE deportation flights
Days after announcing it would be flying federal deportation flights from Arizona, officials with Avelo Airlines confirmed Wednesday it would no longer have a base at the Sonoma County Airport.
In a statement to CBS News Bay Area, Avelo Airlines Communications Manager Madison Jones said that the company "has decided to close the base in Santa Rosa / Sonoma County (STS) almost a year after it was opened."
"STS was selected for closure because achieving necessary financial results there has proven more elusive than expected," the statement said. "With more time to build the markets, perhaps our initial hypothesis could be correct, but now is the time to utilize our aircraft in the best possible opportunities."
The statement said the airline would continue to serve Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport with flights to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Bend/Redmond in Oregon and seasonal flights to Palm Springs.
The company said that employees would "have the opportunity to transfer to any base" where Avelo operates, but acknowledged that some workers would not be interested in relocating.
The move comes after the airline announced earlier this week it signed an agreement to fly federal deportation flights from Arizona starting in May.
In a statement, the airline's founder and CEO Andrew Levy said, "We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come."
"I personally would never book a flight with Avelo Airlines again and I believe that we will see substantial protests from members of our community," said Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins.
She told CBS News Bay Area she was shocked when she heard the news earlier this week about the changes Avelo was making. Since the airport is owned and operated by the county, she said there could be discussion about removing the airline completely.
"We have had conversations in past years regarding divestment from companies during the last Trump administration. I would imagine there would be a similar push from the community to divest of businesses like Avelo Airlines and to prohibit them from using Sonoma County space," said Hopkins.
Some residents said what the airline choses to do with contracts is their own business.
"They're a private company and they're in business. They contracted with the government to do something. That's fine. If you have a problem with the government's deportations, that's not a problem with Avelo," explained Jacob Hansen.
The Sonoma County Airport is small by Bay Area standards with flights going to only 15 locations. For travelers like William Humphries, it's a convenient alternative to driving all the way to San Francisco.
He said he would avoid flying Avelo because of the newly announced contract with ICE.
"There's not much that I can do as an individual, so the limited choices I can make like switching an airline is definitely within my ability," Humphries told CBS News Bay Area.
Fellow traveler Kristen McMahan felt the same way.
"I think that we vote with our dollars every day and I think that can do a lot to send a message that we need to really think about what we are doing and what our message is to the public because our business is going to suffer because of it," said McMahan.
So far Avelo is the only passenger airline that has announced a contract with ICE to do deportation flights.
