Avelo Airlines, a commercial airline serving Wilmington Airport, announced this week that it is ending its nine-month-old partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to facilitate the deportation of unauthorized immigrants.
The announcement comes a week after two Delaware lawmakers, Sen. Ray Seigfried (D-Claymont, Ardens) and Rep. Mara Gorman (D-Newark), introduced legislation to pressure the company to terminate its contract with ICE.
Senate Bill 207 included a provision seeking to disqualify commercial airlines from receiving an economic development exemption from Delaware’s five-cent-per-gallon tax on aviation fuel if the airline deported ICE detainees without those people having been properly processed.
Critics of SB 207 noted that the bill would place airline employees in the nearly impossible position of policing a federal government agency.
Avelo Airlines had also been under pressure from protesters in other markets where it operates to end its ICE contract.
In a statement issued following the announcement, Sen. Seigfried commended the airline for its “astute decision.” He said SB 207 “was never about singling out a single company or opposing market-based incentives,” but taking a stand against what he characterized as “irresponsible deportation tactics.”
Avelo also announced this week that it is streamlining its network, canceling two planned expansions, and closing bases at three airports. It is also reducing the number of flights serving Delaware from 14 to 10.
Wilmington Airport has had difficulty attracting and retaining commercial airline service. Frontier Airlines operated there from 2013 to 2015, and again from 2021 to 2022. Several other carriers have also failed over the last 20 years in their attempts to provide continuing service.
