City News

Avelo cancels Salem-Las Vegas flights, shifting to seasonal route

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Avelo Airlines is canceling flights from Salem to Las Vegas until at least the spring, dealing a blow to Salem’s efforts to build a robust commercial air service at the city-owned airport.

The budget carrier, which began flying out of Salem last October, announced Thursday it was shifting to a seasonal route, citing low demand.

“We are suspending our SLE-LAS service between January 7 and April 27 due to low demand during that time frame,” said Avelo spokeswoman Courtney Goff. 

She said regular flights would resume in late April or early May. Customers with previously purchased tickets received refunds.

Goff did not say how many customers were affected by the cancellations. 

The change Thursday comes after a September announcement that Avelo was selling tickets on the Salem-Vegas route through April 29, 2025.

The Statesman Journal first reported the cancellation.

Salem Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Hoffert said he was informed of the change during a Thursday conference call with the city’s air service development consultant, Jack Penning.

“Certainly it was surprising to us. We were not notified, which is certainly not ideal. But where there is some positivity is they are doing this just for a seasonal period of time and fully intend to have the airplane back coming out of Salem starting on April 28, then moving forward,” Hoffert said. “What my question would be, is this going to be a seasonal thing that we experience year in and year out? And can we get some predictability about that in the future?” 

Avelo is the only commercial airline serving Salem and also flies twice weekly to Burbank, California. Those flights are not changing, Goff said.

Avelo in February launched a flight from Salem to Santa Rosa, California, but dropped it in September, citing low demand.

The Las Vegas cancellations come after the city spent millions on terminal improvements to meet security requirements for commercial service, and is losing money on airport operations because of the increased cost of staffing.

In a report to the city council on Nov. 25, Penning said the city’s first year of air service brought nearly $19 million into the regional economy through spending at restaurants, hotels and other venues.

Penning told councilors that he expected commercial air service to continue growing, generating more money for the city that would cover the added operating expenses.

Brent DeHart, who owns an aviation fueling business and chaired the Fly Salem Committee that worked to bring air service back to Salem, was also on the Thursday conference call. He said this is not an unusual thing to happen in the airline industry. 

“I think that Salem, because it has limited experience with commercial air service, doesn’t realize how often this happens and that there are literally, without exaggeration, hundreds of changes in network routes every single week of the year,” DeHart said. “Airlines do this constantly. Not just Avelo, but all airlines across the board.” 

Avelo flights are currently subsidized via minimum revenue guarantees, a fund the airline can seek reimbursement from if it doesn’t meet its revenue targets. That money, a total of $1.2 million, is from a federal grant and private funds, and doesn’t come out of the city’s budget. Avelo received $445,000 in the program’s first year with about $755,000 remaining for the next year of service.

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.

Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.