Avelo Airlines’ Only Female Captain Claims She Was Fired for Reporting Safety Concerns: Lawsuit
Avelo Airlines’ Only Female Captain Claims She Was Fired for Reporting Safety Concerns: Lawsuit
Colson ThayerMon, April 27, 2026 at 6:20 PM UTC
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A stock image of a female pilot operating a commercial aircraftCredit: Getty -
Kimberly Duffy alleges she was fired by Avelo Airlines after reporting alleged FAA safety violations committed by a male captain
The lawsuit claims Duffy faced retaliation and discrimination and says she is Avelo Airlines' only female captain
Duffy is seeking damages and a permanent injunction to restore her record in the Pilot Records Database
Avelo Airlines, a Houston-based low-cost carrier, is facing a new lawsuit accusing the company of sex-based discrimination and retaliation against a female captain.
A civil complaint, obtained by PEOPLE, filed in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut on April 23, claims commercial airline captain Kimberly Duffy's employment was terminated after “documenting serious Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory violations by a male captain.” The complaint further alleges Duffy's male counterparts “engaged in similar or more serious conduct” than her cited reason for removal, but the men were never terminated.
Duffy was first hired as a full-time captain for Avelo in September 2023, according to the complaint. During her entire employment, she claims she was the company's only female captain.
An Avelo Airlines commercial aircraftCredit: Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public via Getty
On Feb. 19, 2025, Duffy claims she was assigned to Avelo flight 465 from her base in Tweed-New Haven Airport in Connecticut to Tampa, Fla., per the complaint. Duffy reports serving as a first officer while a male employee served as captain. However, during the flight, Duffy claims to have observed “multiple serious violations of FAA regulations,” which she documented in a formal safety report, allegedly submitted on Feb. 20. Two days later, she reportedly filed another safety report detailing a mentor's “unsafe line training practices."
However, on Feb. 27, Duffy claims to have received a call from her employer and its chief pilot informing her she had been terminated. They justified the firing based on an incident in which Avelo claimed Duffy “berated a member of the ground crew during a pushback operation.”
The complaint claims the decision was made “without conducting any investigation” into the alleged incident. “By retaliating against Ms. Duffy, Avelo made it clear that it deemed Ms. Duffy's complaints about unsafe practices as more of a threat than the actual unsafe practices of other male employees about which she complained,” the complaint says.
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Avelo's chief pilot allegedly cited Duffy's “superior attitude” as part of the explanation for the termination. The lawsuit further alleges Avelo's flight operations were “openly hostile to its only female captain.” Male pilots allegedly discussed the need to “put [Duffy] in her place,” because she was a professional woman who “had to be so perfect all the time.”
Following the termination, Duffy claims the airline continued to subject her to discrimination and retaliation, including tarnishing her pilot record, making it more difficult to obtain employment elsewhere and failing to follow through with a conditional employment offer made to her husband.
The complaint argues Duffy “continues to suffer damages, including: lost wages and benefits; loss of future earning capacity; diminished career prospects; emotional distress; loss of enjoyment of life's activities, and harm to reputation.”
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Duffy is demanding a trial by jury and is seeking compensatory and economic damages, punitive damages against Avelo Airlines and a permanent injunction requiring Avelo to reenter Duffy into the Pilot Records Database.
PEOPLE has reached out to Avelo Airlines and Duffy's attorney for comment.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
