Private air travel has skyrocketed since the start of the COVID pandemic. Fox Business’s Grady Trimble and more.
Breeze Airways, a new airline company created by Jet Blue founder David Neelemen, was removed by the Department of Transportation for takeoff on Wednesday.
The agency has granted Breeze a ‘certificate of public convenience and necessity’, which will enable the airline to transport passengers, cargo and mail for interstate travel with up to 22 aircraft for up to one year.
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According to an application submitted last year, the airline plans to fly to ‘neglected, forgotten markets’ in 2021 with smaller aircraft to reduce costs. Breeze’s initial markets will be underserved cities that are currently without direct stops, including destinations east of the Mississippi River, the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
“Many of these destinations are secondary leisure markets that hold favorable costs for value-conscious travelers or second home owners,” the company wrote in its application. “In many cases, these markets support once a day or service a few days of the week. Over time, the routes will cover the entire country.”
Photo courtesy of Breeze Airways
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Neeleman was a co-founder of Morris Air, which was sold to Southwest Airlines in 1993. In 1998, he started the New York-based JetBlue and served as CEO until 2007, after which he left to establish the Brazilian airline Azul, where he remains chairman after stepping down as CEO in 2017.
According to Breeze’s website, the company hires flight attendants, engineers and maintenance technicians. Neeleman has promised that Breeze will be ‘the world’s most beautiful airline’.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Alter | Alter% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JBLU | JETBLUE AIRWAYS | 19.90 | -0.35 | -1.73% |
| AZUL | AZUL SA | 20.33 | +1.48 | + 7.85% |
According to a company filed in September, Neeleman owns a 35.9% stake in Breeze and is the CEO of the company. On August 28, Breeze raised about $ 83 million from stock investors through a series of A-round financing rounds.
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Breeze has agreed to purchase 60 Airbus 220-300 aircraft produced in Mobile, Alabama in December 2018, with deliveries starting in August 2021. The A220 can accommodate 160 passengers. Prior to the delivery of the A220, Breeze plans to start service with Embraer E190 / E195 aircraft equipped with 108 or 118 seats respectively. The E195s will include up to 28 aircraft owned and leased from Azul.
Breeze’s headquarters will be located in Darien, Connecticut, while its commercial operations will be located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
For Federal Aviation Administration certification, Breeze will perform line maintenance at its facility in Islip, New York, and heavy maintenance at an Embraer facility in Nashville, Tennessee.