Low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines plans to withdraw from the US West Coast by the end of the year.
Houston-based Avelo, which began operations from Hollywood Burbank Airport in April 2021, is scheduled to close its base at FlightGlobal on July 15, with plans to cut operations to one aircraft by August 12 and to escape the Southern California market by December 2.
“The closure of the base closes the entire West Coast because all the planes that promote operation on the West Coast are in (Burbank),” Abelo says.
Avelo's struggle highlights a low-cost model under intense pressure in North America thanks to an oversaturated market with affordable airline seats for popular holiday destinations and a major network carrier offering its own low-cost products.
The Avelo website currently shows the options to book flights from Arcata/Eureka in Northern California, Bend/Redmond in southern Oregon, Sonoma in California Bay Area, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Pasco, Washington, Eugene, Mediaford and Salem in Oregon.
Last year, Avero stopped operations between Reading and Southern California, citing the departure of a ground handling partner at Reading Regional Airport, which works primarily in rural Northern California.
Carrier struggled to establish a base in Las Vegas and established an operational and crew base at Charles Schulzsonoma County Airport in May 2024.
The inability of Avelo to maintain its presence on the West Coast was a troubling sign for startups and appeared to be gaining positive momentum from the Covid-19 pandemic.
But a crack began to emerge earlier this year as Abelo announced the controversial decision to launch chartered deportation flights for U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), citing softening demand for low-cost airline seats. At the time, carriers said revenue from ice flights would help stabilize passenger operations.
Closing the Burbank base was not an easy decision,” Abelo said.
“Our company's deepest operating roots lie in Burbank, where we launched our first flights during the Covid pandemic over four years ago.” “There is rarely a singular reason for such decisions to be made, and this is no different. We believe that continuing services from Burbank in our current operating environment will not provide sufficient financial returns against a very competitive background.”
Avelo says operational changes on the West Coast, along with “a significant investment of time, resources and effort,” are not producing the desired financial results.
“Burbank aircraft are expected to support growth at East Coast bases, where there is a significant increase in the opportunity to continue the path to sustainable cash flow generation.”
Avelo operates a fleet of 20 Boeing 737-700 and -800.
In particular, Disc Counter recently extended its East Coast flight schedule until mid-February.
