Startup Avelo announces its 4th crew base, and its 2nd in Florida
Avelo Airlines is growing and has its sights set on the Sunshine State.
The Houston-headquartered ultra-low-cost carrier on Thursday announced that its fourth crew base will be at the Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), near Fort Myers, and will open this fall.
"The opening of Avelo’s fourth base in Fort Myers this fall will enable us to serve more destinations, add more flights, operate more airplanes, fly more Customers and employ more Crewmembers," Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement. "Based on the success of our initial route between Southern Connecticut and Fort Myers, we have announced four additional destinations that will take flight from RSW this fall – creating a meaningful source of new visitors to Southwest Florida. This is just the beginning.”
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The carrier's recent wave of expansion has had a strong emphasis on Southwest Florida. In just the past two weeks, the airline has announced new flights between RSW and Kalamazoo (AZO) and Lansing (LAN), Michigan, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina (RDU) and Binghamton, New York (BGM).
Fort Myers will be Avelo's second crew base in Florida, joining Orlando International Airport (MCO). The carrier also has crew bases at Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) in California and Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) in Connecticut.
Avelo expects to create 35 jobs at its new RSW base, including pilots, flight attendants and maintenance personnel.
The move is fueled by Avelo taking delivery of used 737 next-generation models that are allowing it to expand its footprint. As of last week, the airline has 11 737-700s and -800s, and it's expecting 14 by the end of the year and 16 by the second quarter of 2023.
More: Avelo Airlines CEO Andrew Levy on the airline’s path to profitability: ‘We’re really close’
While Avelo is not yet profitable, the airline is forecasting a profit by the end of 2022.
“We gotta hit our forecast,” Levy said in an interview with TPG last month. “I want to make sure that we’re actually hitting our forecast and generating cash. We’re not quite yet, but we’re really close.”
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The Capital One Venture X card is one of the best all-round travel credit cards ever launched. Not only is it offering a tremendous welcome bonus, but cardholders can earn tons of miles on everyday spending and receive a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus to boot. Its annual fee is $395, but cardholders can count on up to $300 in statement credits toward travel booked through Capital One Travel each year and other valuable benefits like access to Priority Pass lounges and Capital One’s own growing family of airport lounges.Pros
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Cons
- The $395 annual fee might be expensive for some, but this card’s benefits provide much more value than that.
- If you don’t travel frequently, this might not be the best card for you.
- Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Receive up to $300 back annually as statement credits for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of options
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- Earn unlimited 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel
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- Receive up to a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your Venture X miles to easily cover travel expenses, including flights, hotels, rental cars and more—you can even transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Named editors' choice for "Best New Credit Card of 2021" by The Points Guy
- Earn 10 miles per dollar when you book on Turo, the world's largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023