Avelo Airlines

Is Avelo Airlines safe?

Yes, on the record so far. Since its first flight on 28 April 2021, Avelo has had no fatal accident and has not lost an aircraft, and nothing it has reported comes close. The catch is how short that record is: about 74,000 flights to April 2026, a few months of work for a large US airline. We score it 81, level with Allegiant and six points behind Frontier (87). Its fleet of second-hand Boeing 737s, with an average age of about 17 years, and the lack of an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit cost it the most. Our confidence is medium: a young airline that publishes no annual report leaves less to check.

What has gone wrong at Avelo?

Very little, and none of it serious. These are the events reported in the trade press since 2021:

• Santa Rosa, January 2022. A 737-800 left the taxiway on its way to the runway and got stuck in soft ground. Nobody was hurt; the 108 passengers were taken back to the terminal by bus.
• New Haven, March 2023. On approach from West Palm Beach with 176 passengers, the crew saw a fault in one of the redundant hydraulic systems, went around and diverted to Hartford, where they landed safely.
• Near Orlando, May 2023. A 737-700 from New Haven to Fort Myers hit the wake of a larger aircraft at 36,000 feet and dropped a few hundred feet. Three flight attendants had minor injuries; the crew diverted to Orlando.
• Orlando, August 2025. Shortly after take-off for New Haven, a 737-800 stopped its climb at 3,000 feet with an airspeed disagreement and an engine indication, and the crew returned to land.

Smaller items include a bird strike that triggered a windshield warning and a cracked windshield in 2022. We found no NTSB investigation into an Avelo flight. All of this sits at the low end of what an airline of its size reports.

The FAA fine over drug and alcohol testing

On 10 March 2026 the FAA proposed a $65,000 civil penalty against Avelo. The agency alleges that, at various times between April and November 2024, the airline left 10 flight attendants and flight crew members out of its pool for random drug and alcohol tests while they did safety-related work. Avelo had 30 days to respond, and we have seen no final outcome. The case says nothing about the condition of its aircraft, but random testing is one of the basic safety controls the FAA requires, and we take it into account in the oversight score.

Avelo is not a member of IATA, and membership requires an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. Many small US airlines have no IOSA either; the FAA still certifies and inspects Avelo under the same Part 121 rules as American or Delta.

How old are Avelo's planes?

Older than they look. Avelo flies only Boeing 737 Next Generation jets, 17 of them in October 2026, and it bought or leased every one second-hand. The FAA register gives build years of 2006 to 2012 for the 737-800s in its registration series, an average of about 17 years. Avelo publishes no fleet ages, so this is our own count. A single type keeps training and spare parts simple, and the 737NG has a long record worldwide. But it is not a fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary design, and older aircraft need more maintenance.

New aircraft are some way off. In September 2025 Avelo ordered 50 Embraer E195-E2s, with options for 50 more, and would be the first US airline to fly the type. In February 2026 it moved the first deliveries from 2027 to 2028, to give itself more time to prepare systems and train crews.

The DHS charters and the 2026 cutbacks

From spring 2025 Avelo flew charter flights for the Department of Homeland Security from a separate base at Mesa, Arizona. In January 2026 it said it would close that base and its bases at Raleigh-Durham and Wilmington, North Carolina, and retire six Boeing 737-700s, leaving mostly 737-800s. In April 2026 it confirmed that the government flights had ended. FAA records show several former Avelo 737-700 registrations now reserved by or registered to the Department of Homeland Security or its contractor Daedalus Aviation. For passengers, the main effect was a simpler fleet with mostly one model.

Where Avelo flies

Avelo's network is built on smaller airports: Tweed-New Haven in Connecticut, Wilmington in Delaware, Lakeland in central Florida and Concord near Charlotte, with a new base at McKinney, north of Dallas, from 11 November 2026. Most routes link these to Florida, and a few cross to the Caribbean, such as Aguadilla in Puerto Rico; earlier routes also reached Punta Cana and Montego Bay. Smaller airports often have a single runway and fewer spare aircraft nearby, but nearly all are in the US, under FAA air traffic control. The weather risks are snow in the Northeast and summer thunderstorms in Florida.

Tips for Avelo passengers

Avelo flies many routes only a few times a week. If a flight is cancelled for a technical fault, the next one may be days away, so do not book Avelo for the last possible flight before a cruise or wedding. Most of its jets have 189 seats, the maximum for a 737-800, so the rows are tight; find your nearest exit before take-off and count the rows to it. And keep your seat belt fastened when seated: the only injuries in Avelo's record came from turbulence.

How we scored it

The accident record (88) is clean, but it covers five years, not twenty. The fleet (62) is the weakest factor: second-hand 737NGs about 17 years old, with no new aircraft before 2028. Oversight (80) reflects FAA supervision without IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and the 2026 testing fine. Minor incidents (82) and a mostly well-equipped US network (82) complete an overall score of 81.