Avelo Airlines moved into 2024 with a strong on-time record, an 85% gain in passenger traffic and plans to grow its jet fleet.
According to market research firm Anuvu (Anuvu.com), Avelo achieved the U.S. airline industry’s lowest flight cancellation rate and ranked second in on-time performance in 2023.
According to a release and Anuvu, in 2023, Avelo cancelled 0.18% of its flights – the lowest flight cancellation rate in the U.S. airline industry. The 2023 industry average flight cancellation rate was 1.3% and the airline with the second-best flight cancellation rate (Alaska Airlines) cancelled 0.71% of its flights. Avelo has all nonstop service, with no connecting flights that are prone to delays.
In 2023, 82.8% of all Avelo flights arrived at their destinations within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. The 2023 industry average on-time arrival rate was 77.7% and Avelo’s #2 ranking trailed only Delta Air Lines’ 83.1% on-time arrival rate. Avelo’s 2023 on-time performance rate represented a substantial improvement over 2022 when the airline ranked fourth in the U.S. airline industry with a 78.0% on-time performance rate for that year.
In 2023, Avelo flew 2.3 million Customers, an 85% increase over the 1.2 million customers Avelo flew in 2022. Since launching in April 2021, Avelo has flown nearly four million customers.
After starting service in February, Wilmington (ILG) flights accounted for accounted for 200,000 of the those passengers in the first 10 months of the year. Wilmington is now one of a half a dozen bases and as of late last year housed two of the airline’s 16 jets and employs around 100 people.
The Houston-based airline expects to add up to five jets to its fleet in the second half of this year.
Avelo operates on the ultra-low-fare model that charges low base fares with additional charges for seat assignments, baggage and extra legroom. It also operates on the “fail fast” model that suspends or ends routes when traffic figures fall short.
Avelo currently offers flights from Wilmington ILG to Florida destinations, with plans to resume service to Wilmington and Myrtle Beach in the Carolinas in May. Seasonal routes that were offered last year to Nashville, Greenville, NC and other cities are no longer on the airline’s schedule.
The revised schedule drew criticism from some Wilmington travelers who had been flying to the destinations that are no longer on the Wilmington route schedule.
Based on federal filings, Avelo posted losses as of the third quarter of 2023, although its performance compared favorably with carriers like Jet Blue and Spirit.
