A budget airline launched out of Houston in 2021, Avelo Airlines currently faces an image crisis as it continues to run commercial flights between many secondary markets while also conducting migrant deportation flights for the Department of Homeland Security.
Listing 48 domestic destinations and five international ones on its website at the start of 2025, Avelo has in the last few months significantly trimmed and reworked its network. In August, the carrier fully exited the Las Vegas market by axing flights to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) from Oregon’s Redmond and California’s Sonoma.
The airline also shut down bases at Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) and Charles M. Schulz Airport (STS) as part of its wider efforts to reduce operations on the West Coast. An airline representative said that routes from these airports were unable to “deliver adequate financial returns in a highly competitive backdrop.”
Avelo Airlines to cut Houston-Wilmington route, suspend others
This week, Avelo also confirmed that it will suspend its flight between its base at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston and North Carolina’s Wilmington International Airport (ILM). The last flight between the two cities will run on Sept. 27, at which point it will be retired without a confirmed restart date.
A separate flight from Wilmington to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) will also be paused between Sept. 15 to Nov. 21, while flights from the city to Detroit will be retired indefinitely on Jan. 4.
The Houston-Wilmington route was initially slated to run through the holiday season until January 2026 but is now being retired for reasons not specified by the airline.
Related: Airline cancels routes permanently, no refunds
Service from Houston to D.C. will continue to be offered through the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).
Protesters against the airline’s choice to take on deportation flight contracts gathered at the airport on Aug. 31, and other demonstrations have periodically broken out in states including Florida, Arizona, Oregon, Pennsylvania, California, New York, and Connecticut since the start of 2025.
Avelo CEO Andrew Levy previously said that any market exits or route cancellations are not influenced not by politics or protesters, but by low traffic between given cities.
Launching its first flight out of Wilmington in 2022, Avelo has taken major steps to expand its service from the city by making it one of its hubs in April 2025.
Image source: Shutterstock
Avelo CEO: “Rarely one singular reason why decisions like this are made”
“There is rarely one singular reason why decisions like this are made, and this one is no different,” Levy said in an earlier statement on the scaling back of Avelo’s West Coast operations.
More on travel:
- United Airlines places big bet on new flights to trendy destination
- Government issues new travel advisory on popular beach destination
- Another country just issued a new visa requirement for visitors
Any canceled routes also provide immediate market opportunities for competing budget airlines.
Just days after Avelo announced the market exits, Salt Lake City-based Breeze Airways announced that it would pick up routes abandoned by Avelo with a spate of new flights from both Burbank and Redmond to different West Coast cities.
(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a trip.)
Make a free appointment with TheStreet’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
Related: Airline cancels flights to 3 cities forever: How to get refunds
#Lowcost #airline #cancel #flight #major #airport