Ex-Avelo flight attendant sounds alarm on deportation flights contract
MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — Avelo Airlines is putting out a call for Valley area pilots, flight attendants and technicians to help with a charter contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A former Avelo flight attendant, who asked to remain anonymous, is concerned with the safety of these types of flights.
He shared cellphone video he recorded from a few years ago showing a row of passengers with shackles on their feet and wrists getting off a plane. In one of the shots, it can be seen they were aboard an Avelo Airline jet. “I knew that things like this were occurring. I just never thought, in my life, that I would see that first hand. It was frightening. It was dehumanizing to see people chained up like that,” he said.
He said the video is from a domestic deportation flight for ICE and DHS a couple of years ago under the Biden Administration. Arizona’s Family also received pictures of bags the former Avelo flight attendant said were filled with passports and the personal belongings of the undocumented passengers.
He said about 180 seats were filled on that flight. “The alarm bells that were going off in my head, like as a flight attendant is, you know, holy crap. This is so, so dangerous,” he said.
Avelo Airlines signed on to charter three of its planes based at the Mesa Gateway Airport to the DHS. The company plans to carry out deportations with domestic and international flights starting in early May. The flight attendant said his biggest concern with the agreement is safety. “Any flight attendant, any aviation professional, anybody can look at that situation and say that it’s a disaster waiting to happen,” he said.
He explained that under FAA rules, each flight attendant should be able to help at least 50 passengers evacuate during an emergency, all within 90 seconds. He said some passengers on the deportation flight couldn’t buckle their seat belts because of the bulky chains and moved slowly due to their weight. He worries there wouldn’t be enough time to help all of them.
We asked if there were any emergencies during the deportation flights he was on board. “Thank goodness that did not happen because if that would’ve happened, it would’ve been on the news. I can guarantee people would’ve died,” he said.
Arizona’s Family reached out to Avelo Airlines about these concerns. In an email from a spokesperson, we were told the airline “received positive feedback from the FAA and DHS on those previous charters as we followed their procedures.” Arizona’s Family reached out to DHS and the FAA for deportation flight procedures but did not hear back by the time the story aired.
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