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Weekly Reflection
A clergy response to the anti-immigrant Avelo CEO
From the Rev. Nathan Empsall, priest-in-charge
This week, Avelo Airlines -- one of just two commercial airlines operating out of New Haven's Tweed Airport -- announced that it has signed a contract with ICE and the Trump administration to run deportation charter flights. They are the only national commercial airline publicly known to have done so at this point.
The airline's CEO, Andrew Levy, said it was a "strategic business move" that will bring financial "stability." In other words, by its own admission, Avelo is putting profit before people, no matter who it hurts.
The Bible tells us to welcome immigrants, because in doing so, we might be welcoming angels unaware. (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were themselves refugees in Egypt.) It sounds to me like that means not supporting Avelo anymore, even if itjesus means a longer drive to BDL.
I have flown Avelo several times. The convenience of being able to fly direct from New Haven to Puerto Rico, BWI, Atlanta, or North Carolina is certainly enormous. But I can promise you this, the Empsalls are done flying Avelo after the airline's cruel, immoral, greedy, anti-immigrant decision.
I wrote to Avelo's CEO this morning, and although it makes this a longer reflection than most, I am sharing that letter below. I also wrote to Breeze, the other airline at Tweed, to say that this is an opportunity for them to keep business by not following Avelo's example. And I will soon be writing to Mayor Elicker and Attorney General Tong to thank them for speaking out against Avelo's decision. I will also urge state Comptroller Sean Scanlon to do the same, as Tweed's former executive director.
To put our faith into action and raise your own voice, you can sign a rapidly growing petition to Avelo at Change.org now, and then take the second, more effective step of sending your own letter to the CEO at alevy@aveloair.com and to the brand and communications manager at jolson@aveloair.com. Additional emails for Avelo executives and Tweed can be found below.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Nathan Empsall
Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Subject: A clergy response to Avelo
To: alevy@aveloair.com, gbaden@aveloair.com, hgoldberg@aveloair.com, shopkins@aveloair.com, tyealy@aveloair.com, CGoff@aveloair.com, jolson@aveloair.com
Cc: hvnadministration@avports.com, admin@flytweed.com, trafter@flytweed.com
Dear Mr. Levy,
(CC additional Avelo and Tweed officials)
My name is the Rev. Nathan Empsall. I am writing to you as a now-former Avelo customer and as the priest-in-charge of St. Paul and St. James Episcopal Church in New Haven. I very recently came to this position after six years as the executive director of a national Christian organizing group that has nearly 200,000 members.
Your decision to fly charter deportation flights is cruel, immoral, and greedy, with racist implications. I cannot fly Avelo anymore. I am urging my parishioners to make a similar decision, and am also sharing my concerns with other clergy in Connecticut. I fully support the state Attorney General's call for Connecticut to remove your incentives.
You called this a "strategic business move" that will bring financial "stability." In other words, by your own admission, the only thing that matters to you is profit -- profit by any means, no matter who gets hurt. Profit before people. So much for good corporate citizenship.
I do not know your religion or faith, so I won't ask you to follow Christian teachings. But I have to follow those teachings, which means refusing to support anti-immigrant companies. Because of my faith, I seek a society based on love, dignity, and justice, and one that welcomes immigrants. Such a society does not include corporations that collaborate with a lawless administration. It most certainly does not include aiding and abetting policies that have forced migrants into well-documented inhumane conditions, targeted them seemingly solely based on their skin color and tattoos, and repeatedly deported individuals without due process against clear court orders.
You don't have to do the Christian thing, but I do, and that means no longer flying Avelo, despite the enormous convenience it has repeatedly offered me in New Haven. The next time I need to get to Atlanta, North Carolina, BWI, or Puerto Rico, I will travel to Hartford and fly someone else just as I did before you came to Tweed.
I pray that your heart will change so that you will set aside this cruelty and collaboration, return to morality, and begin to value people again. And if your heart won't drive you to do the right thing, then I can speak your financial language too and pray that increasing boycotts will.
Peace,
The Rev. Nathan Empsall
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The Rev. Nathan Empsall (he/him)
Priest-in-Charge
Episcopal Church of St. Paul and St. James
C: (203) 278-9199
E: revnathan@stpaulstjames.org
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