JetBlue founder David Neeleman is launching a new airline,
Breeze Airways, with plans to start flying by the end of this year.
Neeleman is billing Breeze as “the world’s nicest airline”
and plans to focus on mid-sized city pairs that currently have no “meaningful
or affordable service,” according to Neeleman. Breeze has leased 30 Embraer 195
aircraft from Brazilian carrier Azul, which Neeleman also co-founded, and those
deliveries will start in May. Those smaller aircraft will “connect smaller
markets cost-effectively,” according to Breeze.
Further out, Breeze has 60 new Airbus 220-300 aircraft on
order, with deliveries beginning in April 2021. Those aircraft will be able to
serve mid-sized markets.
The airline has been under
development for the last few years under the placeholder name “Moxy,” and
the company now is applying for its operating certificate with the Federal
Aviation Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation. Breeze will be
Neeleman’s fifth airline to develop, following JetBlue, Azul, WestJet and
Morris Air, which integrated into Southwest Airlines in the early 1990s.