Avelo Airlines Ramps Up East Coast Expansion

More American cities are saying “hello” to Avelo as the Houston-based carrier continues an aggressive expansion along the East Coast. 

In just the past seven days, Avelo announced four new cities and seven new routes. The new flights, set to launch this fall, will add the following cities to Avelo’s expanding route map:

• Capital Region International Airport – Lansing, Michigan (LAN)
• Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport, Michigan (AZO)
• Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, Virginia (PHF)
• Blue Grass Airport – Lexington, Kentucky (LEX)

The airline is also beefing up its presence in Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM), with new service to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) set to begin in November. Fort Lauderdale will be the fourth destination Avelo serves out of Wilmington, which already has service to Orlando (MCO), Baltimore/Washington (BWI), and Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) in Connecticut.

Betting Heavily on the Sunshine State

Of the seven new routes announced last week, all are for flights to and from Florida.

The Florida expansion comes on the heels of the June opening of Avelo’s newest base at MCO.  Orlando is Avelo’s third base, with the others located at southern Connecticut’s Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) on the East Coast and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), just outside Los Angeles on the West Coast. 

Avelo’s CEO is bullish on growth even in the midst of a recession

Avelo Airlines Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy says the new Orlando base will lead to a significant economic impact in Central Florida. The airline expects to create 150 jobs at MCO over the next year. As new routes and aircraft are added over the next five years, Avelo says it expects that number to increase to 500.

Avelo is also moving its pilot and flight attendant training to Orlando. Avenger Flight Group (AFG), the world’s largest privately owned commercial aviation training and simulation company, will train crewmembers at a new facility currently under construction at MCO. The training center is on track to be fully open by next spring.

The addition of LAN, PHF, AZO, and LEX to Avelo’s Orlando flight schedule this fall will complement existing service to three cities: New Haven, Connecticut (HVN), Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), and Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM). By summer 2023, Avelo says it plans to serve 15 destinations from MCO and as many as 50 destinations by 2027. 

In addition to Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale, Avelo also serves Sarasota/Bradenton (SRQ), Fort Myers (RSW), and West Palm Beach (PBI). 

Northeast Success

Tweed New Haven Airport, located in southern Connecticut about an hour south of Hartford’s Bradley International Airport, and just over two hours northeast of Manhattan, is also experiencing sustained growth.

Avelo currently serves 14 destinations from HVN, which is rather remarkable considering the airport was left without any scheduled airline service in September 2021 after American Eagle suspended service to Philadelphia (PHL). 

The inaugural flight from New Haven took off to Orlando – with much fanfare – on 3 November 2021. Shortly after HVN-MCO service began, Avelo launched service to five other Florida cities including Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Fort Myers (RSW), West Palm Beach (PBI), Sarasota/Bradenton (SRQ), and Tampa (TPA). 

In addition to the Florida destinations, Avelo now offers nonstop flights from New Haven to the following cities: 

• Chicago Midway (MDW) 
• Nashville (BNA) 
• Raleigh/Durham (RDU) 
• Charleston, SC (CHS) 
• Myrtle Beach (MYR) 
• Savannah/Hilton Head (SAV) 
• Baltimore/Washington (BWI) 
• Wilmington, NC (ILM) 

The airline says 150 crewmembers and five Boeing 737-700 aircraft are currently based at HVN. The airport is also undergoing a $70 million expansion project due largely to the success of Avelo. 

Burbank Works it Out 

Avelo Airlines’ first base – Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), located 16 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles – continues to fine-tune its operation. 

At launch, Avelo offered service from Burbank to eleven cities, including: 

• Arcata/Eureka, California (ACV) 
• Bend/Redmond, Oregon (RDM) 
• Bozeman, Montana (BZN) 
• Eugene, Oregon (EUG) 
• Grand Junction, Colorado (GJT) 
• Medford, Oregon (MFR) 
• Mesa/Phoenix, Arizona (AZA) 
• Ogden, Utah (OGD) 
• Pasco, Washington (PSC) 
• Redding, California (RDD) 
• Santa Rosa, California (STS) 

Three months after the inaugural flight from Burbank to Santa Rosa on 28 April 2021, Avelo announced three new cities: Monterey, California (MRY), St. George (SGU) and Provo (PVU), Utah, and Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado (FNL). 

Things then began to get a bit turbulent for the new carrier. 

Monterey, St. George, and Provo flights were suspended before they even began. Around the same time, Avelo pulled out of Mesa/Phoenix, Grand Junction, and Bozeman. A second attempt into Arizona – this time to Tuscon (TUS) – was halted after just one month of service. Fort Collins-Loveland flights ended in June of this year. 

It wasn’t all bad news for Avelo, as the airline added flights from Burbank to Boise, Idaho (BOI) in May. 

Avelo currently flies to eight cities from Burbank.

Interestingly, Avelo also flies to Las Vegas (LAS) from Santa Rosa and Redding. These are the only flights in Avelo’s western operation that don’t go through Burbank. 

A Unique Business Model 

Like other ultra low-cost carriers (ULCC), Avelo Airlines offers no-frills service at exceedingly low fares. Customers will not find amenities such as seatback TVs, Wi-Fi, or power outlets. A fee model similar to other ULCC’s enables customers to pay for the services they would like, including priority boarding ($15) and preferred seating ($11+, window/aisle/seats with additional leg room). Both carry-ons and checked baggage will cost you $40 each at the time of booking ($50 at the airport). 

Despite the fees many ULCC flyers have become accustomed to, Avelo’s relatively simple operation does have some unique advantages. The airline serves primarily underserved small markets and bypasses huge hubs, leading to fewer delays and cancellations compared to traditional hub-and-spoke carriers. Another advantage of not having to connect via a hub airport is that the chance of a bag getting lost or delayed is drastically reduced. 

Crewmembers also appreciate the non-hub setup. All of Avelo’s flights begin and end the day at one of its three bases. This means crews can go home at the end of each day, and overnight hotel stays are not required. 

While aircraft are parked at the bases overnight, Avelo’s maintenance crew can address any mechanical issues on the modern, all-Boeing fleet. Avelo has ten aircraft in its fleet, including six 147-seat 737-700s and four 189-seat 737-800s. Five more aircraft will join the fleet by early 2023.

Avelo boasts an impressive performance track record with enviable on-time reliability. Fewer than one percent of its flights have been canceled (not including weather or air traffic control delays). 

A Bright Future

When Avelo Airlines launched last year, it was the first new U.S. airline to take the skies since Virgin America in 2007. Ironically, not even a month after Avelo’s first flight, Breeze Airways’ inaugural flight took off from Tampa.

With the looming merger of JetBlue and Spirit, does Avelo have what it takes to fill the void that will be left by ULCC competitor Spirit Airlines? Only time will tell.

Like any fledgling business, startup airlines often take time to find their footing. Avelo Airlines is no exception.

However, if the aggressive expansion rate over the last few weeks indicates where Avelo is headed, it seems they have a very bright future indeed.