Avelo Airlines is expected to bring more than 100 jobs to McKinney National Airport, including positions for pilots, flight attendants, aircraft technicians, ground handlers and customer service workers. Applications are available at aveloair.com/careers. McKinney is about 13 miles southeast of Celina.
The airport’s new passenger terminal remains on schedule to open Nov. 11, the city announced Sept. 24. Avelo’s first flights will serve Fort Myers on Nov. 11, followed by Las Vegas and Orlando on Nov. 12, then Tampa and Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 19.
Four additional routes begin in December: Atlanta and Denver on Dec. 16, with four weekly flights each, and Nashville and New Orleans on Dec. 17, with two weekly flights each. The additions bring the airport’s Avelo service to nine cities.
The Houston-based airline will station three 184-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the airport, which is listed in booking systems as DTX. Operations are planned Wednesday through Monday, with no Tuesday flights. Tickets are sold through AveloAir.com. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Southwest Region airports director, Ignacio Flores, presented the operating certificate to McKinney aviation director Ken Carley.
The project followed a May 2023 vote in which 58.69% opposed a $200 million airport bond. The City Council later chose sales-tax funding and approved $58 million in construction contracts in May 2025 on a 4-2 vote. Justin Beller and Patrick Cloutier voted no. KERA reported criticism from blogger Bridgette Wallis, while Mayor George Fuller said voters rejected the funding method rather than the airport.