Avelo pauses network growth while gearing up for Embraer E195-E2 deliveries

While many low-cost carriers race to add new routes, Avelo Airlines is taking a different tack: pulling back, consolidating, and preparing for what it hopes will be a smarter phase of growth. According to Aviation Week report, the U.S. budget airline plans to focus almost entirely on the East Coast until mid-2027, when the first of its 50 ordered Embraer E195-E2s begin arriving.

The move marks a turning point for Avelo. Founded in 2021 with bold ambitions to challenge the majors from smaller airports, the carrier initially built a dual-coast network anchored in Burbank, California, and several East Coast bases. But that strategy stretched thin. The West Coast network was quietly wound down this year, leaving Avelo concentrated in the eastern half of the country.

Now, the company is doubling down on what it sees as its strongest cards: secondary East Coast airports, a lean operation, and the hope that awareness will finally catch up to ambition.

“Our number one inhibitor to growth right now is just the fact that a lot of people don’t know that we actually exist,” said Mike Corcoran, Avelo’s director of network planning, during the Routes Takeoff North America conference in Florida.

That honesty captures the challenge of any young airline trying to punch above its marketing weight. Avelo’s current fleet of 22 Boeing 737s — 14 -800s and eight -700s — will be used to “scale” those smaller airports, driving visibility and building customer familiarity.

U.S first E2 operator

But the real transformation lies ahead. The incoming Embraer E195-E2s, with around 140 seats and potentially a dual-class configuration, could open a new chapter for Avelo.

The aircraft’s fuel efficiency and right-sized capacity are ideal for the kind of mid-size markets the airline targets. More importantly, they’ll give Avelo the range and flexibility to reconnect with the West Coast — this time with better economics and clearer intent.

Corcoran confirmed that the airline has already pinpointed about 20 potential base airports for the new jets — all secondary airports near major metro areas. Deliveries, expected to start in mid-2027 at a pace of roughly one per month, would allow Avelo to scale gradually without losing control of its costs.

Avelo will be the first US airline to operate the E2 family, an aircraft that changed the landscape for another US airline, Porter Airlines. Today, the Canadian airline has the largest fleet of E195-E2s in the world, with 48 aircraft flying to various domestic destinations, as well as to the US and the Caribbean.

About the Author

Ricardo Meier

Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.

Articles by the author »