Avelo Airlines is leaving CWA as predicted

The Wausonian reported back in October that it had done the same thing in Dayton and Charlottesville

Last fall, the local media was gushing about a new airline service that was coming to central Wisconsin. I sent our new freelance writer to cover the unveiling.

But like a good journalist, he dug a little deeper. He found out that Avelo had a habit of opening up shop in an airport, then turning tail when it didn’t seem to go well.

Here was that story:

Our headline asked: But for how long? Now I guess we know how long. Avelo Airlines announced on Wednesday that they were pulling out of Central Wisconsin Airport after less than a year of operating there.

In the piece, freelancer Devon Welsh reported:

Avelo Airlines in September ended their service after less than a year of operations in both Dayton, Ohio and Charlottesville, Va., according to reporting from the Dayton Daily News and NBC 29 respectively. That raises concerns about the long-term viability of this new service at Central Wisconsin Airport. 

So Welsh asked about whether or not central Wisconsin residents could expect that here as well:

Victoria Stennes, Avelo’s Head of Customer Experience and People, said that maintaining flight service in a new market like central Wisconsin involves internal factors such as ‘load factor frequency’, the amount of available seats that have been filled by passengers, as well as external factors such as the price of fuel.

“As a young start-up airline we don’t have the luxury of necessarily developing markets over an extended long term, and sometimes markets take a while to mature,” Stennes said. “But we try to do due diligence on the front end, so [that] when we come in and we engage in these partnerships and engage with the community, we’re here with every intention of this being a successful route launch that we can expand over time.”

Welsh also asked Courtney Goff, their communications manager, about their expected duration at CWA:

The Wausonian reached out to Avelo Communications Manager Courtney Goff at Avelo. Here’s what she had to say about the decision to leave Dayton and Charlottesville:

In an environment of rising fuel costs, we’re navigating the best way to fly our routes and utilize our planes while also ensuring there is enough demand. This was not the outcome we envisioned when Avelo took flight in Charlottesville and Dayton, unfortunately both cities had not been generating the demand we expected especially with the distance and fuel usage needed to continue the routes

Did Avelo make any commitments to stay for a particular duration? Goff addressed that as well:

While we have not made a specific duration commitment, CWA is off to a great start with strong bookings and continues to trend in the right direction. As we continue to see those in Central Wisconsin region using our flights and books trends remain strong, there is not an issue for concern. CWA is a great area where there is no competition to the Orlando area and a big demand, we are very pleased with it.

Not pleased enough, apparently.

That despite considerable money expended on the service. The Marathon County Board designated a $195,000 grant toward the service coming here, and that helped spark another $900,000 from the Department of Transportation.

Avelo at the time said the route was trending in the right direction and that there wasn’t any competition, they’re now saying the opposite, that it’s not profitable, according to the leadership team:

Unfortunately, the CWA-MCO route was not profitable, and we do not expect it to be within a reasonable time horizon. Every route Avelo flies must be profitable or be on a trend line towards that goal. We are grateful for the support Avelo has received from the Central Wisconsin community and CWA’s leadership team.

Was it fuel costs? That wouldn’t make sense. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, airline fuel costs have been falling since the airline launched.

This more up-to-date chart also shows a downward trend in fuel costs:

It’s hard to know what ticket sales were, but presumably they would have fallen since people tend to travel south in the winter more than the summer.

CWA Director Brian Grefe expressed regret that the airline is leaving:

This is disappointing news for Central Wisconsin. We understand the impact this has on our passengers and local community and will continue to actively explore opportunities with other carriers to ensure we continue to provide robust travel options.

Hopefully those other carriers won’t be fly-by-night operations like Avelo.

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