Avelo Airlines Now Announces Closure of West Coast Operations, Shifts Focus to East Coast

Avelo Airlines, a budget carrier that has been operating from Hollywood Burbank Airport for over four years, announced on Monday that it will cease its entire West Coast operations by December 2025. The closure of its Southern California base marks a significant shift for the airline, which launched during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, expanding rapidly in a highly competitive travel market.

Since its arrival in Burbank, Avelo rapidly expanded its customer base and became a significant force at the airport, serving flights to Northern California, Oregon, and at one point, Montana. By 2023, Avelo had reason to celebrate as it flew its 1 millionth passenger, with its Burbank operations registering around one-third of the airline’s cumulative customer base. Despite such success, the company has since encountered financial troubles that have complicated maintaining its presence on the West Coast.

The Decision to End West Coast Operations

Breaking news: Avelo CEO Andrew Levy announced in a statement that the airline will be cutting the fleet in Los Angeles County back to just one aircraft by mid-August, with the final base closure coming on December 2, 2025. It is ending operations in this market as it speaks volumes to the difficulties this airline has had in competing in this market.

Levy explained it chose to discontinue operations at Hollywood Burbank Airport because of a series of financial issues. “We believe maintaining service at Hollywood Burbank Airport in today’s operating environment will not generate adequate financial returns,” Levy said. “The competitive environment further complicated maintaining operations in the West Coast market.
Avelo’s closure is not only a logistical shift but also a financial one. The airline had hoped to continue its operations in Burbank, but market conditions, along with the pressure from rising operational costs, led to the difficult decision to focus on regions with stronger financial prospects.

Shifting Focus to the East Coast
In addition to its restructuring, Avelo intends to concentrate on growing its operation on the East Coast. Levy confirmed that planes the airline currently operates out of Burbank will be redeployed elsewhere in the country, including up and down the Eastern Seaboard where it finds better “efficient longer-term growth prospects.

On the East Coast, Avelo’s operations are focused in cities like Hartford, Conn.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Wilmington, Del. The carrier hopes this will contribute towards stronger results in terms of profit particularly in places that appreciate such low cost and affordable flights.

Avelo which has become known for being a budget carrier (and quite solely on short-haul flights) believes the shift will allow them to now concentrate on markets where they can better serve their communities and fly more profitably.

Effects on California Employees and Customers

Avelo expects all existing California-based employees to have the opportunity to transfer to an East Coast base. But that offer to move is only to locations in Connecticut, North Carolina and Delaware, so employees will have to decide whether to relocate or start their job search outside of the airline.

The closure also affects consumers who purchased flights from Avelo. Existing passengers have all been offered the opportunity to cancel flights for full refunds, with the airline recommending those affected to make other travel arrangements. Avelo’s customer service employees have worked to reply to inquiries related to refunds, creation expedite for passengers whose flights have been affected by the closure.

The Controversial Avelo-ICE Partnership

U.S. Customs immigration issues In addition to having financial struggles, Avelo has also faced public scrutiny based on its work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The airline had been running charter flights to help the authorities’ deportation efforts, prompting fierce criticism and campaigns to boycott it on social media. The flights had taken off from Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona, although Avelo said that its decision to terminate operations on the West Coast was not related to its work with ICE.

A spokesperson for Avelo denied the charter flights were related to the airline’s closure on the West Coast. The company made a point of noting that it had put “meaningful time, costs and efforts” into its Burbank operations, but those efforts were not paying off in the kind of profits the company needs to support a presence on the West Coast.

Looking Forward: Avelo’s New Path

The decision to pull the plug on its West Coast operations is a pivot for Avelo Airlines as it adjusts its strategy to better reflect the direction the air travel landscape is going. Despite being able to establish itself as a modest player in the affordable/low cost carrier subsector of low cost travel, market dynamics and increasing operating costs make it hard for the airline to continue playing in the west coast.

By relocating the hub to more lucrative East Coast locales, Avelo hopes to sort out and expand its business in markets that still seem to hold some potential for price-conscious passengers. Unclear, as the airline pivots and restructures, is how these adjustments will affect its future in a U.S. airline industry growing more competitive.

Avelo’s move to scale back operations is a sign of the headwinds facing low-cost carriers in a turbulent marketplace. So as this chapter now closes for Avelo on the West Coast, it only foreshadows a new eastward direction as the airline continues to adapt to meet consumer demand as airlines explore post-pandemic life.