Breeze Airways takes on new omnipresence at regional airports
The budget carrier Breeze Airways is a relative newcomer to the regional aviation scene ”” it set up an East Coast base at Bradley International Airport in February and began flights out of Westchester County Airport in April, and now it has the most flight routes of any carrier at both airports.
On Nov. 2, Breeze inaugurated its new nonstop service from Westchester to Los Angeles, which marked the first nonstop transcontinental flight from the White Plains-based airport. David Neeleman, the airline”™s founder and CEO, he freely admitted it took a long time for him to appreciate what Westchester had to offer air travelers.
“I lived in New Canaan for 20-plus years when I started JetBlue,” he said, referring to the budget carrier he started in 1998. “I know the airport really well, and most of time I”™d have to drive right past it to head to Kennedy. I know that people really want to go to Westchester ”” they really love that airport ”” and it”™s something that is filling a great need.”
Indeed, Neeleman took part in Breeze”™s first flight from Los Angeles to Westchester and affirmed passenger satisfaction.
“I just loaded a group of people on an airplane headed back to Westchester,” he said. “And I said, ”˜You don”™t have to drive to JFK anymore.”™ They all cheered. So, it”™s a big change for these people.”
While Breeze has a New England presence at T.F. Green International Airport outside of Providence, Rhode Island, Neeleman felt that Bradley”™s position just north of Hartford was an opportunity that demanded his attention.
“Bradley”™s got its own catchment area,” he explained. “We fly to T.F. Green, but they”™re not really the same market. Central Connecticut area has a lot of businesses and a lot of people, and Bradley has its own market.”
In less than a year, Breeze established nonstop Bradley service to Charleston, South Carolina, Columbus, Ohio, Jacksonville, Florida, Las Vegas, Nashville, Norfolk, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Virginia, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia, with new routes to Phoenix and Vero Beach, Florida, to be added in February. The carrier also has “Breeze Thru” service involving one stop but no change of airplane to New Orleans, Orlando, Tampa and Tulsa, with new routes coming in February to serve Provo, Utah, and San Bernardino, California.
“Partnering with Breeze on their expansion has been transformative for Bradley International Airport,” said Kevin A. Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, in a press statement. “Their national growth, ongoing innovation and expanding local network offer our passengers more opportunities to travel conveniently and affordably. We thank Breeze for their partnership in bringing these exciting new routes to this key market and for their continued commitment to our community.”
At Westchester, Breeze flies to Charleston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Nashville, Norfolk, Sarasota-Bradenton and Vero Beach, Florida, with one “Breeze Thru” route to New Orleans. The carrier had announced plans earlier this year for a nonstop Westchester service to San Francisco via the Airbus A220-300, but supply chain issues and delayed production of the aircraft forced the carrier to put those plans on indefinite hold.
Neeleman acknowledged that getting a route established “takes a bit of time” ”” up to six months, to be specific ”” with tasks that range from securing gate space, pre-selling a new service to a pair of previously unmatched markets and then hiring the staff for the service. While attracting employees has not been an issue ”” “We have a great company to work for,” Neeleman said ”” there has been one headache aggravating the company recently.
“Fuel is a concern,” he said. “Particularly jet fuel, which is diesel fuel. We”™re keeping an eye on that, especially when they”™re talking about diesel fuel shortages on the coasts. If we need to raise the fares a little bit to cover the increased price of fuel, we can do that.”
Breeze currently offers 99 nonstop routes between 33 cities in 19 states, and in 2023 Neeleman is looking to take the airline to other countries.
“We”™re going through that process with the FAA right now,” he said. “When we get that, we”™ll certainly have some flights outside the United States.”