That’s not a soft spring wind we’re talking about; it’s America’s newest airline startup, Breeze Airways, backed by a man who’s been present at the beginning for several, most notably JetBlue
David Neeleman’s new airline, which aims to build a business serving markets abandoned or never served by the majors, has been approved by the Department of Transportation for its Air Operator Certificate, which will become final in a few weeks after an objection and answer period. The approval will allow it to build up to about 22 planes by year end.
The airline has 60 Airbus A220s on order, and has lease arrangements for 35 Embraer E190/E195 planes, mostly from another Neeleman airline, Azul of Brazil, which is upgrading to newer Embraers. Delivery of the A220s is slated to begin later this year. Startup had originally been aimed for 2020, but was set back by Covid and other events.
The airline’s application says it intends to provide low-cost nonstop services to midsize markets abandoned by our current air transportation network.” It sees a profitable market there, “By flying a smaller plane with a lower trip cost, Breeze believes there are hundreds and hundreds of city pairs crying out for nonstop flights.”
While the airline industry is in flux these days with outcomes not easy to predict—Breeze’s plan to start with charter operations became unworkable—it’s also true that Neeleman has a record of finding niches and filling them. Among his startups: Morris Air, JetBlue, WestJet and Azul. He’s also a major owner of TAP Portugal.
