Ultra-low cost carrier Avelo Airlines has contracted to run 3 Boeing 737s from Mesa, Arizona for deportation flights.
Aviation blogger and New Hampshire state legislator Seth Miller (‘sbm12’ in frequent flyer forums) is suing in U.S. District Court in Nevada (where Avelo is based) to affirm his right to publicly criticize Avelo Airlines over this service. He raised $6,000 from 70 people to fund billboards criticizing Avelo, but the airline got them taken down.
- Avelo claims his billboards criticizing the flights violate their trademark
- And a legal nastygram got the billboard company owner to remove the ad
The ads were displayed starting on Monday, May 5. Four days later, Mr. Miller said, he received the letter from the Avelo lawyer accusing him of trademark infringement and unfair competition. The airline said it had heard of “instances of actual confusion” among customers who mistakenly believed that Mr. Miller’s billboard was affiliated with the airline.
The lawyer said Avelo could recoup damages of $150,000 per infringement and asked that the billboards and an associated website be removed by 5 p.m. on Friday to “avoid any escalation of this matter.”
On the plus side, I now have a much better image of the billboard.
Of course, now they can also file a copyright claim/DMCA on this post since they took the photo.
— Seth Miller (@wandrme.paxex.aero) May 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
The case is garnering national attention. There’s no plausible confusion and Avelo’s claim that consumers are, in fact, confused strains credulity. Miller’s right to criticize Avelo – and to identify them specifically when doing so – is fairly well-established. But the billboard company isn’t going to earn a profit on the sign if they have to spend money on lawyers. I don’t believe that New Hampshire has an anti-SLAPP statute. Perhaps State Representative Miller can address this deficiency.
That said, his tagline for the effort is “Does your vacation support their deportation?” But the truth is, if anything it’s the reverse.
- Avelo is doing this precisely because they have planes they cannot profitably fill with vacationers.
- The carrier is struggling. In fact, they will operate only one flight on Tuesdays starting June 10 (Burbank – Eugene, Oregon).
- So these deportation flights help keep the carrier going.
Credit: Colin Cooke Photo via Wikimedia Commons
I don’t see anything fundamentally wrong with taking up a government contract. I do see something very wrong about eliminating due process requirements affirmed by the courts, and taking the position that the courts have no say in such matters. Those of you who say ‘they’re illegal, they don’t have due process rights’ miss the point entirely: you don’t know whether someone is here in violation of the law or not without the ability to contest the claim. A U.S. citizen might be deported just because the government falsely or incorrectly said they were here illegally.
Miller criticizes the lack of due process, and also the conditions in which the transportation happens. How would a plane properly evacuate in an emergency with everyone shackled?
At MSP this morning: ICE drags a pile of shackles towards DHS vans as people board a GlobalX A321; fueled and loaded by Signature Aviation; departing for Omaha with the Minneapolis skyline in the background.
I counted ~30 people, all chained at their wrists, ankles, and waist, boarding today.
— Nick Benson (@ottergoose.net) April 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Does a business have an obligation to object to this? They might believe it’s fine, or may be indifferent and desperate for the business. But customers certainly have the right to consider whom to do business with, though encouraging boycotts rarely turns out to be effective (except when it does!).
Credit: Avelo Airlines
I’ve known Seth for probably 20 years. He and I disagree on many things. But he’s a passionate guy with an opinion that he unquestionably has a right to express, including by engaging in commerce to facilitate his speech. (An aside for Seth: your case is the perfect demonstration that money is, in fact, a key element enabling speech.)
(HT: Live and Let’s Fly)
Consider Delta if you’d like to fly with a global thought leader.
Avelo…of all airlines…should know the score: do the (moral) crime of participating in mass deportations and you will do the time of trying to repair your brand among half of the country. Avelo has the right to operate deportation flights and American citizens (including elected politicians acting as private citizens) have the right to draw attention to their actions.
Here’s hoping the courts are consistent in their interpretation of the law.
This makes me more interested in flying with Avelo. I hope the company is successful.
Not an American, so this isn’t mu beef. However, this is a trend throughout the west (as some other harmful trends as well). So it is relevant to many of us non Americans as well of course.
The lunatic idea that it is “immoral” to deport someone who is illegally in one’s country – is just that: lunacy. Brought to you by the radical left do-nothing, build-nothing, accomplish-nothing (except maybe mass death, economic destruction and general misery)
So, no – no need to try to “shame” anyone. They don’t feel shame about something as obviously legal and moral as sending someone unlawfully in another country.
**The “due process” argument is a separate one – and granted, there are valid points on each side to my mind.
There was only one Avelo route of interest to me and it got scrapped before I had a chance to fly it.
After Avelo decided to affiliate itself with DHS/ICE Barbie Noem, there was no way I would ever choose to do business with them. I refuse to do business with companies that deliberately and willfully choose to engage in human trafficking people.
I thank Seth for standing up for the rule of law and against companies that don’t support due process for all persons in the US.
@Dude26 if you are not American I’d kindly ask that you mind your own business and stay out of our politics. What you consider completely appropriate half of America considers to be cruel and inhumane, especially when it invokes people who ARE here legally and are being used as political footballs. When political leaders say what’s happening to immigrant in our country is immoral it’s immoral.
A few months back I was plane spotting at SAN (San Diego) airport and saw a GlobalX plane on the tarmac. A little while later a convoy of busses arrived at the plane. I thought it was a sports charter. Turns out one by one, people in shackles were walking up the air stairs into the plane. Didn’t realize it was a deportation flight. I started tracking the flights and they fly in repeatedly into SAN (San Diego) usually to places in Texas or Louisiana . Now I know .
@Dude26: you have no voice in this issue. Now maybe you support your “head of state” breaking laws but most sane people don’t. But the USA proved there are more insane in the US than sane so they support dictators that choose to break the law. So please, stay out of this 3rd worlds issues.
I wonder if the billboard company had a clause in their contract allowing them to review and reject what was placed on the billboard. This would allow them to reject swearing and other rough language as well as sexually explicit billboards. Avelo may not be able to directly attack what is political speech since the courts may not be able to uphold the attack due to first amendment restrictions on laws.
Can anyone erect any billboard on any public land?
These billboards are dumb, but unsurprising. The tribal zeal to support illegal aliens remaining in America is certainly strange. If I were illegally living in Europe (because, say, I love the Alps) nobody would cry for me if authorities told me I had to leave. And you are 100% correct that putting up these billboards is EXTREMELY harmful to these communities: they need Avelo to stay in business or they’ll lose their low-fare, convenient airline service. It’s really harder for a liberal activist to exercise worse judgment.
I’d also note your insistent on more “due process” for illegals is naive. There is due process, but it is way less than that which US citizens are entitled to. And it has to be. The Biden adminisration, shockingly, let in 10 million illegals, and nobody has really been given an explanation for why. You simply can’t have 10 million people COMPLETELY ignore US law coming in, and they cry “due process” when they’re being removed. It would be impossible to actually give these 10 million illegals full American-citizen-style “due process,” which is (of course) why the liberals who want these people to remain are insisting upon it. It’s a sham argument, and I’m surprised you’ve fallen for it.
For all those whose sensibilities are offended by deportation flights, perhaps you need to explain to us why illegal immigrants with violent records need to remain in the USA? Why should we have to feed and house these while waiting for endless appeals for months and or years?
What if they get released on bail, and they kill a friend or family member? Would you continue to support their “right” to due process or their “right” to remain here?
I am in favor of legal immigration. My parents are legal immigrants, and I am grateful to be here. They were/are productive members of society, my deceased Dad was a priest/pastor and my Mom is retired lab technician. They were given an opportunity and made good use of it.
What have these illegals with violent records done with the “opportunity” they stole? Many have simply engaged in bad behavior again. They been given benefits that should’ve been used for USA citizens. I’m sure there are some that may have turned over a new leaf, but that’s typically the exception.
Paul, less than halve and it’s the lunatic less than halve. Actually about 80% are against an open border.
People are dumb. If driving fast, it’s possible to get the wrong message and think it’s an Avelo ad.
25 years ago, I saw a Spirit flight load handcuffed passengers. It may have been a deportation flight or prisoner transport.
Avelo was the same airline that was caught in the middle of night in White Plains , NY flying in these non citizens a few years back. I don’t recall seeing bill boards to ban them then.
Parker, GUwonder and others,
The fact that you use pejoratives and extremist rhetoric (“Barbie Noem,” referring to deportation as “moral crime” and “human trafficking”) betrays your TDS. You should probably up your medications.
For one, it’s not “half” of America who is “sane” and opposes these deportations. Polls show that 66% off ALL Americans support this effort, meaning at least half of Democrat Americans also support mass deportations. And 97% of all Americans support deporting illegal aliens convicted of crimes of violence.
And since absolutely NONE of you complained about Obama deporting 2 Million illegals during his administration, it seems that your objections are more based on WHO is ordering the deportations.
@Sean and @George with respect, blow it out your a@@es. I don’t think a single person is suggesting we let violent criminals who are here illegally remain, so let’s stop with the alarmist rhetoric just intended to scare the suburbanites.
What we are saying is that these initiatives are using a bazooka, when a sharpshooter is indicated. We are rounding up people here legally and then refusing to fix it. We are targeting brown people while allowing white South Africans who are under no threat. Meanwhile, our leader has been caught on tape using things like the “N” word. The overt racism in all of this is NOT okay. It’s immoral. It unchristian and it’s unamerican.
If you are okay with being all those things, then good for you. I was raised better and NO amount of you or anyone else gaslighting me is going to change that. My CHRISTIAN values would never allow me to turn my back on the poor and the vulnerable.
If we can keep the conversation respectful that’s great. But know that I match energies and will not accept the normalization of things that do not reflect the intent upon what this country was founded.
@ Dude26. Thank you for your comment. There appears to be those on this site that do not tolerate comments being factual and unemotional.
@ Parker. No need to turn your back on the poor and the vulnerable, go to them instead of having them come to you. Most MINISTRIES have outreach programs that help those in need where they are. I dare say even the Catholic Charities did so . . . in the past.
These low info, uneducated, leftist lunatic pro illegal immigration advocates are nuts. They don’t cry complaint about rest of the 195 nation in the world that also have anti illegal immigration laws and most are even stricter with severe fees and fine and jail time with deportation. They only want USA to be an open border lawless illegal immigration nation,, ignoring the existing massive legal immigration system where one million people immigrate legally. God bless the USA and proud voter for President Trump and I am a legal immigrant/US citizen.