Breeze Airways Gets Feds OK For Takeoff

Breeze Airways, the new airline created by JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU founder David Neeleman, has received final approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin operations.

What Happened: Neeleman, who also founded Canada’s WestJet Airlines Ltd., Azul Brazilian Airlines and the now-defunct Morris Air, first announced plans for a new airline in 2018 under the name Moxy, which was renamed Breeze Airways. The new airline was initially planned to launch in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic’s deleterious impact on the airline industry forced the startup to reschedule its debut, which is now slated for the spring.

Breeze is planning to begin service with 118-seat Embraer jets leased from Azul and aircraft leasing companies, and it has announced plans to purchase 60 Airbus 220-300 planes, which hold between 130 to 160 passengers. The airline has not announced routes yet, although flight operations will be based in Salt Lake City and corporate headquarters will be in Darien, Connecticut, a suburb of New York City.

Why This Matters: Airline industry startups are not common in normal times and Breeze is launching while the industry is still reeling from the pandemic’s economic tumult. According to the DOT, airlines carried 60% fewer passengers in 2020.

Nonetheless, the industry is offering signs of resilience in the face of pandemic-fueled challenges. Two carriers, Frontier Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, have announced plans for initial public offerings, while American Airlines Group Inc AAL and United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL both rescinded previously announced employee furloughs following yesterday’s passage by the House of Representatives of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

(Photo: Artist’s rendition of a Breeze aircraft. Photo courtesy Breeze Airways.)