LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Breeze Airways hopes to announce its first international routes within the next week or two, CEO David Neeleman said in an interview at the Airline Passenger Experience Association Global Expo on Sept. 9.
The international destinations, though, are already known because Breeze has been flying proving runs to Cancun and Punta Cana. Neeleman expected those runs, which are a requirement for receiving FAA regulatory approval to fly international routes, to be completed soon.
"Once we get approval, we'll announce the routes the same day," he said.
The launch of international service will be the latest milestone for Breeze, which began flying in 2021. The airline turned its first quarterly profit in last year's fourth quarter. And Neeleman said Breeze was profitable again in this year's second quarter, though the financial report that the private company must file with the U.S. Transportation Department is not yet publicly available.
Breeze now flies approximately 280 routes and serves 78 cities, Neeleman said. The airline has no competition on approximately 85% of its routes; Breeze's business model is connecting city pairs that otherwise would have no direct service. And he sees practically no cap on the possibilities. There are approximately 3,500 available routes that fit the Breeze profile, Neeleman said.
Among Breeze's upcoming route launches will be five in March from Hollywood Burbank Airport in Southern California, where discount competitor Avelo will exit in December. However, Breeze will be up against new Alaska Airlines service in Burbank. Neeleman is sanguine about the competition, but if it doesn't work out, he said Breeze "has so many markets we should be in right now."
Over the winter, Breeze began competing against Avelo in New Haven, Conn., which is Avelo's largest focus city. Breeze has reduced its flying from New Haven by approximately 25% since March and has cut one of 10 routes: Sarasota. But Neeleman said that on balance the airline is faring well in New Haven and is benefitting from public outrage about Avelo's contract to operate charter deportation flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Adjusting first-class inventory
Other initiatives in the works at Breeze are a loyalty program to replace Breezy Rewards and an increase in the number of first class-style Ascent seats on its Airbus A220s.
The loyalty program will launch at the end of October, though Neeleman isn't ready to talk about details.
Breeze initially had 26 first-class seats on its planes, but now flies its Airbus A220s with just 12. Neeleman said that figure will be back up to 16 within six months. And he expects to go up from there as the airline makes further inroads into the premium market.
One area where Breeze has struggled since launch is its on-time performance. But in August, Breeze had an on-time performance of 79.2%, Cirium data shows, a 7-point improvement over August 2024. Breeze said that only trailed Hawaiian among U.S. airlines.
Neeleman said Breeze is working diligently to make its on-time improvement consistent. Steps include having rescue crews on standby that can be flown to where they're needed within 90 minutes and having a pilot/technician who can deliver spare parts to fix planes.
More thorough monitoring of ground operating contractors will also help by improving turn times, he said.