Protesters at BWI Airport call on Maryland to end its partnership with Avelo Airlines over deportation flights for ICE.
WASHINGTON — Demonstrators gathered on Sunday at Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshal International Airport (BWI), demanding that the state of Maryland sever ties with low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines, over its contract with the Department of Homeland Security to operate deportation charter flights for ICE.
The demonstration was organized by a coalition of grassroots groups in the area, including Doctors for Camp Closure, Ground ICE, Maryland Indivisible Chapters, and the Greater Baltimore Democratic Socialists of America. The protest stretched across multiple locations around the airport grounds. Including outside doors 15 and 16 on the departures level, where Avelo’s check-in and bag check counters are located. As well as the pedestrian overpass over Interstate 195 along the BWI trail that leads to the airport.
The Texas-based Avelo Airlines was founded in 2021 and has only two direct flights out of BWI airport. Around 100 people came to the airport to protest the budget airline’s role in immigration deportations, according to the Baltimore Banner. Holding signs reading “Avelo Airlines fuels fascism,” “Avelo is disappearing people for Trump,” and “Evilo.”
According to our CBS affiliate in Baltimore WJZ, more than 4,000 Marylanders have signed petitions urging Governor Wes Moore to cancel Avelo’s contract, a number echoed by the Baltimore Rapid Response Network.
“It’s toxic to your brand,” Kate Sugarman, an organizer with Doctors for Camp Closure, told the Banner about the deportation flights. “We want to make sure that Avelo and every other airline know that it is unacceptable to have any kind of cooperation with ICE.”
The airline’s partnership with ICE began in mid-May 2025 through a long-term charter program, using unbranded aircraft flying both domestic and international deportation routes. The airline has been recruiting flight attendants to staff the flights, according to a job posting for what it calls a “charter program for the Department of Homeland Security,” CBS News reported. The job pays $28 an hour for the first year of service.
“We are seeking energetic, highly motivated Flight Attendants who wish to join a committed group of safety and service professionals at Avelo Airlines,” the listing reads. “Flights will be both domestic and international trips to support DHS’s deportation efforts,” the post adds, although it makes no reference to migrants.
In a statement from Avelo Airlines to the Baltimore Banner, the airline said, “We recognize the right of individuals to peacefully assemble and assert their freedom of speech. Avelo’s main priority continues to be maintaining the safety and timeliness of our operation that over 7.3 million Customers across the country continue to enjoy.”
Critics argue Avelo’s participation adds opacity and moral concerns to already controversial deportation operations. Nationally, Avelo is estimated to have conducted about 10-20% of ICE removal flights, depending on how one calculates “removal” versus total flights. Protestors also claim that nearly 20% of all ICE air deportation flights in July were operated by Avelo.
The involvement has sparked protests in multiple states, including California, Connecticut, and now Maryland. All with increasing pressure mounting on the airline. WJZ reports that the Maryland Aviation Commission confirms the state has the authority to terminate such airline contracts with as little as 30 days’ notice, or immediately in cases of a material breach.
When asked by CBS Baltimore about the protests and petition to cancel Avelo’s contract, the airline did not respond. Meanwhile, Governor Moore’s office has not made any public statement regarding whether Maryland will act to cancel the contract.