Avelo adds options for local flights, jobs

November 8, 2024 7

NEW CASTLE — Avelo Airlines is seeing growth fly through Wilmington Airport (ILG) with the addition of another plane and six more nonstop destinations, the company announced this week.

The move also signals economic growth for New Castle County as the national company works to hire around 30 more employees to fill the spots needed to man the new routes and aircraft while serving the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region.

“Our goals are convenience, reliability and affordability, to maintain really exceptional service to our customers and to inspire travel,” Avelo Communications Manager Courtney Goff told the Delaware Business Times. “Being able to take a flight from ILG means our customers don’t have to deal with layovers and the congestion often found at the Philadelphia airport.”

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She added that the company also focuses on reliability and currently has the “highest on time percentage and lowest cancellation rate of any U.S. airline,” a feat for the growing business that currently manages a fleet of 20 Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircrafts serving 49 popular destinations.

The new route additions means customers can enjoy 13 routes to and from the airport to destinations such as Myrtle Beach, S.C., Puerto Rico and several locations in North Carolina and Florida.

To help the growth evolve, Avelo leadership works with the airport and local community members to identify popular routes for its 190-seat plans and which routes should be seasonal, like its runs to and from Myrtle Beach.

“We have to make sure we fly a full aircraft,” Goff told DBT. “When we came in [to ILG] initially, we went in running. And we know there have been circumstances in the past where other carriers have come and gone, so there’s a little bit of that mistrust that the community has experienced. We want to ensure that we continue to establish ourselves as the Delaware area’s airline and continue to grow and establish routes that people want to utilize.”

Avelo had stepped in as ILG’s commercial airline operator in 2023, a year after Frontier Airlines announced it would cease operations again – after a two-year stint and just months after surpassing 10,000 commercial boardings from the location, leaving Delaware with no commercial air service at the time.

But Goff is confident that Avelo is taking the right steps to maintain a successful operation. It currently operates routes twice weekly starting at just $41 from ILG, according to a press release. New nonstop destination routes to Charlotte/Concord, N.C. (USA), Central Florida’s Orlando/Lakeland (LAL) and Atlanta, G.A. (ATL) all began this week and will run on Mondays and Fridays.

Several routes will be returning to the airport, including Daytona Beach, Fla. (DAB) which began on Nov. 7 and will run on Thursdays and Sundays, Palm Beach, Fla. (PBI) which began Nov. 8 and will run on Mondays and Fridays and the newest run to Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. (SRQ) which begins on Nov. 23 and will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Speaking to the goal of convenience, Goff added that the new flights aren’t just convenient for the customer – it works to benefit employees in the area, as well, who may get to start their day at 6 a.m. and return as early as 4 p.m.

“That’s good for our work-life balance,” she told DBT. “We are able to hire full-time and part-time employees, maybe they just want to do some weekends and we’ve hired everybody from ground handlers to pilots to flight attendants and everything in between. We want them to be able to enjoy what Delaware has to offer and enjoy that work and personal life balance.”

While Avelo Airlines enjoys its new routes out of ILG, Goff said the company will continue to work toward growth in Delaware in the future with the support of airport owner Delaware River & Bay Authority.

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“Avelo Airlines is a great partner and we’re very proud of our neighborhood airport and the hometown service it provides to the local traveling community,” DRBA Executive Director Thomas Cook said in a press statement. “We will continue to make the necessary investments to enhance our traveling customers’ experience. Wilmington Airport continues its flightpath to be the airport of choice for people in Delaware, South Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland who seek low fares, quality service and a convenient, stress-free airport experience.”