Avelo Airlines signs deal with ICE, hiring crews for deportation flights
The job posting says the company is seeking “energetic, highly motivated” flight attendants and does list that the charter program will support deportation efforts.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Avelo Airlines is hiring flight attendants to support deportation flights for the Department of Homeland Security, according to an online job posting.
Three 737-800s based at Mesa Gateway Airport, AZA, will be used to “support the Department’s deportation efforts” starting May 12, flying domestic and international flights.
“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said. “After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come.”
The airline says these positions will operate on reserve shifts only and applicants must be able to respond within two hours’ notice. The posting says the job will pay $28 per hour for the first year with a 75-hour minimum guarantee.
Applicants must be 21 years old and successfully complete all Avelo flight attendant training requirements.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration may use an 18th century law to deport Venezuelan migrants, but said they must get a court hearing before they are taken from the United States.
The court’s action appears to bar the administration from immediately resuming the flights that last month carried hundreds of migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The flights came soon after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II to justify the deportations under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.
KNPX and the Associated Press contributed to this report.