Salem residents urge city to cancel Avelo contract over deportation flights   

Some Salem residents are pushing the city to end its contract with Avelo Airlines after the budget airline currently flying out of Salem’s airport announced it had contracted with the federal government to assist with deportation flights. 

The news prompted the Salem Democratic Socialists of America, a local chapter of the largest socialist organization in the United States, to organize a protest near the airport Sunday as a way to bring awareness and pressure the city.

“The city council has an opportunity to send a clear message that they are not going to take it. Stand with immigrant workers, stand with all workers,” Geovanny Tolentino, the co-chair of the Salem Democratic Socialists of America, told Salem Reporter. “We are mostly using the protests as a strategy to apply pressure on the city council to cancel the contracts and incentives it offers to the airline, and that would include the revenue share agreement that it has.”

A petition by the organization with 306 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon has circulated online and the group plans to appeal directly to the Salem City Council at its next meeting on May 12, the organization’s co-chair told Salem Reporter.

Avelo will begin using three of its planes to assist with federal deportation flights starting May 12 from Mesa Gateway Airport near Phoenix, Arizona where the company’s deportation efforts for the federal government will be based, according to Courtney Goff, an Avelo spokeswoman. The company has no plans to fly deportation flights out of Salem.

The city’s budget committee discussed the contract during an April 23 meeting, with several members indicating they were concerned by Avelo’s decision to assist with deportation flights. 

Committee member Evan Manvel raised the issue, calling the U.S. government’s recent practice of deporting people to a prison in El Salvador “un-American, unconstitutional torture of people.” 

Committee member Mel Fuller, who is also running for a seat on the Salem-Keizer School Board said she would be open to taking another look at the city’s contract with the airline.  

Mayor Julie Hoy said the question of the city’s contract with Avelo is outside purview of the budget committee. 

“Changing that contract with the city would cost us tremendously, financially, and we can’t afford it. And we have big work to do right here. And I guess I would further add…we can’t fear that which we don’t know, and we have to work within what we know to be real. The work directly in front of us here in Salem Oregon,” Hoy said. “The big picture is big and it is worrisome, but it can’t prevent us from being functional and healthy.”

Committee member Stacey Vieyra-Braendle countered that fears of deportations are “very real” for people in Salem.

Salem City Manager Krishna Namburi told city councilors in an email Monday that the city has no relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to operate deportation flights out of Salem’s airport, but also does not have authority to prevent the federal government from doing so. 

Avelo is the only commercial airline operating out of Salem’s airport and began flying to Las Vegas and California in the fall of 2023. The city and Avelo signed a 10-year contract in 2023 allowing the airline to offer commercial service in Salem.

The contract can only be terminated if the airline fails to fulfill its contractual obligations or if a lien is filed against the airport because of Avelo’s actions, Namburi said in her Monday email. 

The city and Avelo also signed a revenue guarantee agreement which subsidizes the airline by unconditionally guaranteeing a certain amount of revenue even if flight bookings don’t keep pace. That money comes from private donations and a federal grant, not city money.

Avelo received $445,000 in the program’s first year with about $755,000 remaining for the next year of service. 

“The safety and well-being of our crewmembers (employees), customers and all individuals involved is our highest priority. While we recognize the right of individuals to peacefully assemble, Avelo’s main priority will continue to be maintaining the safety and timeliness of our operation,” Goff told Salem Reporter in an email. “We also flew these charters under the Biden administration. Regardless of the administration or party affiliation, as a U.S. flag carrier when our country calls and requests assistance our practice is to say yes.” 

The airline’s decision to fly deportation flights has prompted outrage in other cities that have a relationship with Avelo like New Haven, Connecticut, where hundreds protested outside the local airport, according to National Public Radio. 

Some who are invested in Salem’s ability to maintain commercial air service in Salem long-term said it would be a disservice to the city to push Avelo out because of how much effort it took to secure an agreement with the commercial airline. 

Brent DeHart, who owns an aviation fueling business and chaired the Fly Salem Committee, said giving Avelo the boot would be a disservice to residents. He also does not see any utility in singling out the company for its decision to contract with the federal government. 

“There are so many people in the community who have fought and paid for our privilege of being able to have commercial service here, and it was a long time coming, and then you have some people who are frankly, they are mad at Trump. You are mad at Trump,” Dehart said. “Why do you want to take something out of our community that so many people want and fought for and paid for over many years?” 

City Councilor Vanessa Nordyke said cancelling the city’s contract with Avelo is far more complicated than it looks and said she was shocked when she first saw the headlines about Avelo’s decision. She called the move “awful,” and said the council and mayor will meet with city officials on May 15 to discuss the matter. 

Nordyke said the city is obligated to provide operations for commercial air service at the airport for ten years under its current contract and canceling the agreement could result in a lawsuit from Avelo and the possibility that the company prevails in court, Nordyke said. That would cost the city taxpayer dollars, she said. 

“No one has a crystal ball, but cancelling that contract could result in the one thing that people really don’t want–giving city taxpayer money directly to Avelo,” Nordyke told Salem Reporter in an email. “Canceling that contract could result in the city of Salem forking over a huge sum of city general funds to Avelo Airlines, at a time when we already have a multimillion dollar general fund deficit. We need every penny of those General Fund dollars to fund our library, parks, Center 50+ and public safety.”

Namburi clarified further in her email to councilors that while the city has not used any general fund dollars to subsidize Avelo, it is committed to the two-year revenue agreement. 

“These revenue guarantees are a common strategy used by municipalities to attract and retain airline services, especially in markets that are reintroducing commercial flights,” Namburi said. “The revenue guarantee agreement is set to expire on October 4, 2025, and it is designed to ensure stable operations for Avelo Airlines during this time period.” 

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

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