A letter from the Office of the Attorney General named the Houston-based carrier for the first time, following a months-long public records back-and-forth.
MCKINNEY, Texas — Ultra-low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines is in talks with McKinney to be among the first to fly commercial passengers following the city’s airport controversial expansion, a letter from the Texas Attorney General’s Office indicated.
Houston-based Avelo already flies from DFW International Airport to its hub in New Haven, Connecticut, but its self-described strategy is to fly into smaller and “more convenient” airports.
McKinney plans to break ground on a controversial expansion to its airport this summer, with the goal of commercial flights taking off by the end of next year.
In 2023, voters elected not to approve a bond issue to pay for the expansion. City leaders have since found alternative funding for a pared-down version of the initial proposal, the city’s newly-sworn-in mayor said Tuesday.
“I’m certainly a believer in the airport, a supporter, and will do what needs to be done to help it be successful,” Bill Cox said in an interview before his swearing-in Tuesday.
The AG’s office sent the letter naming Avelo Airlines this week at the conclusion of a months-long back-and-forth following a public records request from WFAA.
In November, McKinney’s airport director said the city’s conversations with potential commercial airlines at McKinney National Airport had progressed, but would not say with which carriers McKinney had signed letters of intent — citing a non-disclosure agreement.
The city of McKinney appealed WFAA’s Public Information Act request for any letters of intent between the city and airlines to the Office of the Attorney General, which ruled in February that the city must release the information to the reporter.
In March, McKinney and the still-unnamed airline asked the AG to reconsider, saying the requested information represents a “trade secret.”
But on June 16, the AG’s office declined to reconsider its earlier ruling in a letter addressed to a lawyer for Avelo Airlines — naming the carrier for the first time. WFAA still has not received the letter of intent between the city and the airline.
When reached for comment, an Avelo spokesperson said: “At this time, we have nothing additional to add beyond the publicly disclosed agreements.”
A city of McKinney spokesperson declined to comment on any “ongoing negotiation with carriers,” but said: “We do want to share how excited we are that community members will soon have affordable flights from [McKinney National Airport] without long drives to the other two airports in the region.”
Protesters in multiple cities nationwide have picketed against Avelo Airlines in recent months after the airline said it had signed a long-term deal with the Department of Homeland Security to “support the Department’s deportation efforts” from an airport outside of Phoenix, KPNX reported.
“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said at the time. “After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 Crewmembers employed for years to come.”
The deportation flights are specially chartered — and separate from commercial flights, like the ones McKinney soon hopes for.