Little-known Virginia start-up with deal for ICE deportation jets buys up secondhand planes

An obscure aviation company that recently won a $140 million contract to supply the Department of Homeland Security with jets for deportation flights has reportedly begun buying up old planes.

Daedalus Aviation Corp., which won the contract late last year, has since registered four aircraft, Boeing 737-700 jets previously used by the discount carrier Avelo, according to a review of Federal Aviation Administration data by Bloomberg. The jets are between 17 and 22 years old, the outlet found.

The Independent has contacted the company for comment.

Daedalus provides “responsive flight operations” for missions ranging from “high-tempo government-directed evacuations to sensitive international repatriations,” according to the company’s website.

“We are delighted to see the media is highlighting the Trump administration’s cost-effective and innovative ways of delivering on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Independent in a statement. “This new initiative will save $279 million in taxpayer dollars by allowing ICE to operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns.”

open image in gallery

Daedalus, whose deal with DHS comes as the agency is amassing its first fleet of government-owned deportation planes, was formed in 2024 and led by William Allen Walters III, according to documents from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, which were obtained by Bloomberg.

A person with the same name is listed as the chief executive of Salus Worldwide Solutions, a company that won a nearly $1 billion contract in May from DHS to support the government’s program giving flights and other travel services to migrants who agree to “self-deport.”

The CEO of Salus previously served in the State Department during the first Trump administration as deputy chief of medical operations, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Salus had never received a federal contract before the May deal, and its CEO had previously donated to the MAGA-aligned America First Policy Institute and American Resolve, a super PAC run by allies of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, The Washington Post reported.

open image in gallery

A rival contractor challenged the Salus deal in an August federal lawsuit, alleging the company got nonpublic information to assist in its bid, which Salus denies.

Records obtained by the Post showed an official who used to work at the America First Policy Institute helped coordinate competition for the contract.

DHS told the paper last year that its review of the contract process showed “zero indication that there was any wrongdoing on anyone’s part.”

The Independent has contacted Salus for comment.

Deportation flights have been a persistent source of controversy for the companies involved.

open image in gallery

Avelo, the company that previously used the planes registered by Daedalus, served as a DHS subcontractor until recently. It announced earlier this year that it was no longer conducting deportation flights, citing financial reasons as well as reportedly talking about the decision internally as a way to avoid “political controversy.”

The company’s previous involvement in immigration transport prompted calls for a boycott last year.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey wrote to executives at two aviation companies working with ICE, demanding they cease deportation flights.

“Flying these residents out of state—often within hours of arrest—is intentionally cruel and purposely obstructs the due process and legal representation they are entitled to,” the letter reads. “By contracting with ICE to execute these flights, you are profiting off these anti-American tactics and facilitating the obstruction of due process.”

Dozens of faith leaders were arrested Friday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, as local activists protested the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown in the state, which has included deportation flights out of the state.