In the streets leading to the idyllic Wrightsville Beach, passionate community organizations – the Supporters of Immigrants Forum, Indivisible Wilmington, and the Wilmington division of the Democratic Socialists of America – staged demonstrations. Their plea was for beach-goers to ‘match their actions to their beliefs.’ An organizer relayed their decision to pick that particular locale, with the aim to enlighten as many travellers as they could about the recent alliance formed between Avelo Airlines and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the execution of deportation flights.
The organizer expressed, ‘It’s common knowledge that Avelo has had county funds allocated to it for promoting Wilmington and other attractions in an attempt to encourage tourists to plan their holidays via their service. We aim to bring to light that a seemingly inexpensive flight ticket might reflect a high moral cost.’ Avelo Airlines, a low-cost carrier, extends its services across 23 states and laid down its operative base in Wilmington in April.
Post-establishment, the city has experienced a surge of protests. The initial demonstration against the airline was set up outside the airport in May, but the recent turnout marked the announcement of a united nationwide movement aiming to put commercial strain on Avelo following its controversial agreement.
Emphasizing the scale of this movement, an observer expressed, ‘The protest is now a nationwide venture, and we’re coming together today as part of a country-spanning demonstration. This is evolving across US cities where Avelo operates.’ One demonstrator shed light on the issue: ‘Avelo Airlines is the single commercial airline with an agreement with ICE, running deportation flights from Arizona to El Salvador. Our goal is to encourage people to boycott this airline.’
Despite widespread disagreement on immigration matters and the difficulty in modifying public opinion on such a sensitive topic, advocates locally and beyond are urging travellers to reconsider their chosen flight company. However, their efforts seem to be paying off, according to one participant. ‘The boycott appears to be showing results,’ they said. ‘A few weeks back, Avelo suspended some of its services and trimmed down a few of its routes in different parts of the country, except here in Wilmington.’
Local campaigners ground their optimism for substantial changes stemming from these small-scale endeavors. Avelo, on the other hand, defends its partnership with ICE, justifying it as a financial necessity.
A significant inquiry was initiated by a member of one of these campaign groups, who requested an inspection of the public records with the New Hanover County Airport Authority. After a couple of months, the organization’s Deputy Director responded that they had not allocated any finances towards Avelo or approved any budgetary changes for the said airline.
The deputy director also shared a copy of the airline’s standard lease agreement applicable to any airline operating at ILM, attached with details of the authority’s incentive program – an offer open to all airlines. However, after a series of correspondences, he did confirm that local marketing funds had been utilized to publicise Avelo flights and the ILM Airport since the airline began operations.
The initiation of Avelo’s operations has left a considerable imprint on the local economy. Despite this, one demonstrator points out the difficulty in correlating the fiscal impact to Avelo’s service with the hard facts.
Speaking of the economic figures in detail, the demonstrator says, ‘[The] sum total of tourist expenditure in New Hanover County in 2023 was recorded as $1.1 billion, while the total annual GDP for the county remained under $20 billion in the last fiscal year. Therefore it’s unreasonable to attribute a substantial portion of the economic traffic to Avelo. But this also distracts us from the principal ethical concern.’
To further clarify their stance, he said, ‘Are we prepared to ignore Avelo’s involvement in illegal and cruel deportation flights simply because we gain economically from their other operations? Should we simply overlook these deportation flights because our morality comes with a price tag? This is the dilemma we face.’
The post Demonstrations Erupt Over Avelo Airlines’ Deportation Flights appeared first on Real News Now.
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