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PREVIOUSLY: Avelo Airlines to Launch ICE-Led Deportation Flights Out of Arizona (But Not California, the Company Says)

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After hearing strong public support at last night’s meeting, the Eureka City Council unanimously voted to cut ties with Avelo Airlines over the carrier’s role in federal deportation flights, opting instead to use United Airlines for city-related travel.

The ultra-low-cost carrier has faced mounting public criticism in recent months after it brokered a deal with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation flights out of Arizona, prompting a national boycott campaign and numerous protests.

Speaking at last night’s meeting, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery emphasized that the city isn’t under contract with Avelo, but said staff have taken advantage of the airline’s inexpensive fares to fly down to Burbank for city business.

Slattery | Screenshot

“In our processes that we use for contracting services, flights [or] construction projects, we typically go with the lowest cost option, so we have used Avelo for that purpose,” he said. “Overall, it’s a really insignificant amount of our travel [budget]. … We don’t use them very often.”

In Fiscal Year 2024-25, the city spent approximately $130,000 on all travel, $2,500 of which was spent on Avelo flights, Slattery continued. Switching to United Airlines would increase the cost of air travel to Southern California by about 40 percent to $3,500.

All of the 20-odd residents who spoke during the public comment portion of last night’s meeting urged the council to ditch Avelo, with many speakers seizing the opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

“We live in a culture of violence and apathy, and our government has super-charged ICE, giving seemingly unlimited power and money to an entity with no rules or accountability, only hatred and destruction as their intent,” said Humboldt County resident Annie Fricke, a member of Humboldt Democracy Connections. “Should you stop using Avelo for city business? Yes. Absolutely, without a doubt. We cannot, as a community, support any part of the abductions, kidnappings, forced removals and disappearances. ICE will likely come to our community soon, and we must be a united front from the beginning.”

Another speaker called Avelo an “evil, self-serving corporation,” and asserted that the airline would abandon Humboldt County eventually “because that’s what airlines like them do.”

“We can say, ‘Please, please, Master, would you give me a cheap airline?’ or we could actually have principal,” said Sam, a member of the Humboldt Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “We could actually say, ‘Screw you guys. We’re not flying with you.’ We have power. We can make a difference in this. We can show the rest of Humboldt that we’re taking a stand. … So let’s have a spine and let’s tell Avelo to go to hell.”

Following public comment, Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez, who asked for the item to be placed on the agenda, made a motion to discontinue the city’s use of Avelo Airlines as long as it contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. Councilmember Leslie Castellano seconded the action. 

Fernandez | Screenshot

“Avelo’s operation of deportation flights and the contract with [ICE] is legal, though not moral, and we should not be complicit or complacent in the denial of due process or other 14th Amendment rights,” Fernandez said.

Councilmember Kati Moulton echoed his comments, adding that it is the city council’s “obligation to spend public resources responsibly.”

“That means economic responsibility as well as a moral responsibility,” Moulton continued. “Supporting Avelo Airlines is not only morally irresponsible, but economically irresponsible as well. The campaign of terror is being waged against the innocent Latino community, with or without their papers in order. The suspension of due process is not only a  stain on the soul of our democracy, it is a crippling injury to our economy that we will feel soon, harming every consumer, every investor, every worker, but hitting working class people — like most of us in Eureka — the hardest.”

The rest of the council and Mayor Kim Bergel expressed similar sentiments and ultimately voted 5-0 to cut ties with the airline.

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Check back a little later for more coverage of this week’s Eureka City Council meeting!