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.”
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.
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.
