California’s skies are about to get a little less budget-friendly. Avelo Airlines, the ultra-low-cost carrier that made Hollywood Burbank Airport its West Coast home base, has announced it’s packing up and pulling out—completely.
On Monday, Avelo confirmed it will cease all West Coast operations by Dec. 2, 2025, ending a four-year run that made the airline a favorite for no-frills fliers hopping between SoCal, NorCal, Oregon and beyond. Once heralded as a post-pandemic disruptor, Avelo’s California debut was bold, launching amid COVID-era uncertainty in 2021 with cut-rate fares and routes to underserved airports.
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At its peak, Burbank was Avelo’s crown jewel, accounting for nearly a third of the airline’s passengers. It even flew its one-millionth guest out of BUR in 2023. But as competition tightened and operational costs rose, the airline’s West Coast strategy no longer made sense, said CEO Andrew Levy.
“We believe the continuation of service from [Hollywood Burbank Airport] in the current operating environment will not deliver adequate financial returns in a highly competitive backdrop,” Levy told KTLA, noting that Avelo will instead focus on “more efficient longer-term growth” back East.
The drawdown begins immediately: Burbank will go from a mini-fleet to a solo aircraft by mid-August before disappearing from Avelo’s map entirely this winter. The airline’s California-based employees have been offered the chance to relocate to one of Avelo’s eight other bases, including Hartford, Charlotte and Wilmington (Delaware, not North Carolina), all firmly planted east of the Mississippi.
Passengers with upcoming bookings can cancel online for a refund.
Though some observers have linked the West Coast retreat to recent backlash over Avelo’s controversial ICE deportation charter program (operated out of Arizona, not California), the airline insists the decision was purely financial.
Still, the news will sting for budget-minded travelers who once praised Avelo for bringing back some of the simplicity—and affordability—of flying short-haul in California.
As for Burbank? With one less airline on the departure board, there’s now even more reason to show up late, breeze through security and reminisce about the $39 fares that once were.