Low-cost carrier Avelo starts flights with an eye on Southwest

One of two new US low-cost airlines, the first to debut in more than a decade, is about to begin flying just as larger rivals rush to entice customers to return to the skies this summer. Avelo Airlines plans to begin flights on April 28 with 189-seat Boeing Co. 737-800 jets going from Burbank, California, to Santa Rosa, in the heart of the state’s wine country. Additional flights in the following weeks will connect Burbank to 10 other cities and heighten competition with the airport’s biggest carrier, Southwest, which has expanded its own network to smaller burgs during the pandemic. Avelo will fly nonstop to smaller cities such as Ogden, Utah, and Pasco, Washington, while eschewing routes that Southwest would defend fiercely, said Avelo CEO Andrew Levy. “The chess board is a little different now,” he said, citing “materially lower costs” for aircraft, labor and other items amid the recent collapse in travel spending. He added that low fares, meager frills and smaller airports will help the company grow amid an expected surge in leisure travel as US vaccinations rise. Avelo’s motto -- “refreshingly simple” -- is based on the notion that smaller, secondary airports are easier to navigate and reduce travel hassles.<br/>