Summary
- Breeze Airways hit profitability in just three years – quite the feat in the airline industry.
- With a stellar Net Promoter Score, Breeze makes passenger satisfaction a top priority.
- With Providence at the center, international expansion is on the horizon, pending FAA approval.
US ‘nice’ low-cost carrier Breeze Airways is celebrating three years of operations this summer. In just over 1,100 days, the carrier has grown to serve more than five million passengers and now operates more than 170 nonstop routes between 56 cities in 29 states.
Top three highlights of the first three years
Simple Flying recently had the opportunity to speak with Breeze Airways founder and CEO David Neeleman about birthday celebrations, loyalty programs, and what’s next for the carrier. Having founded five airlines, we wanted to hear his proudest accomplishments from his first three years with Breeze Airways.
According to Neeleman, the accomplishment he is most proud of during his time is reaching profitability. Becoming profitable as a new airline is always challenging and ultimately decides the airline’s fate, so reaching profitability this quickly no doubt comes as a relief. The airline’s first profitable month came this March when it generated more scheduled service revenue in one month than in the entirety of the first quarter of 2023.
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Breeze Airways Announces First Profitable Month Since Launching
In its first three years of operation, the carrier has increased its Available Seat Miles by nearly 300%.
While it is always lovely to make investors happy, the airline’s core stakeholders are its passengers, and those passengers appear to be quite satisfied. According to Neeleman, the airline’s Net Promoter Score (which measures customer satisfaction and how likely they are to encourage others to fly the airline) is the highest of any US airline. Neeleman credits this accomplishment to the “great people” who work at Breeze and the fantastic job they are doing.
Photo: Orlando International Airport
Reliability rounds out the top three things Neeleman is most proud of during his time here at Breeze. The serial airline entrepreneur highlighted the fact that Breeze runs a very safe operation and rarely leaves passengers stranded:
“We hardly ever cancel flights. That’s really what my goal is… I’d rather get you there late than not get you there at all.”
To put this in perspective, Neeleman shared that the completion factor for the airline’s flights in May was 99.9%, Equating to only one out of every 1000 flights not leaving the ground.
To everywhere and beyond
The airline now flies to more destinations than any other carrier in 11 of its cities and is the only scheduled carrier in at least one. The intentional choice to fly on routes without direct competition is one of the critical pillars of Breeze Airway’s business plan and provides a large selection of routes from which to choose. When pressed for specifics on which cities could be next to join the Breeze network, Neeleman suggested nothing was off the table:
“You know, everything’s up for grabs, basically.”
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
One location confirmed to be at the center of a significant expansion is Providence, Rhode Island. Breeze Airways first landed at the city’s Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport (PVD) in July 2021, and the carrier established an operations and crew base there last year. Breeze expanded its service to 132 weekly flights to 18 destinations this summer, becoming the largest airline at PVD in terms of destinations served, and recently announced it will commence international flights from the airport.
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Breeze Airways Plans To Operate Its 1st International Flights This Year
I caught up with the carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer, Lukas Johnson.
The airport confirmed that Breeze Airways would offer a total of 35 underserved or unserved nonstop routes, among them seven routes to destinations west of the Mississippi and up to 12 locally-based aircraft flying 200 flights per week over the next five years. Most notably, the agreement conditions that at least three of the 35 Breeze destinations will be international. When pressed for specifics, Neeleman confirmed that the carrier is still waiting on FAA approval to operate international flights:
“As soon as we get the flag carrier status, we can announce things.”
Flag carrier status, often associated with national airlines like British Airways and Singapore Airlines, is used in the US to indicate any airline that operates internationally. Although the process does not have a fixed timeline, Neeleman confirmed that the airline is doing its part in the certification process and is currently analyzing options for the winter schedule.
Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock
The developments in Providence, which Neeleman views as “a great alternative to Boston,” will allow PVD to become a connecting hub for the airline and its partners as domestic and international travel grows.
Speaking of partners, Breeze Airways announced last month that it will pursue interline agreements with international carriers over the next three years to build up connecting traffic.
Leaning into loyalty
As the only airline operating on the vast majority of its routes, Breeze Airways has a unique customer demographic. Unlike travelers based near airline hubs like Denver, Atlanta, or Miami, Breeze’s customers traditionally live in areas served by secondary airports. This provides an opportunity to provide a frequent flyer program that complements existing memberships at major alliances by providing a hometown solution.
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Breeze Airways Unveils Its Frequent Flyer Program
The new Breezy Rewards loyalty program offers a guaranteed redemption value and launches alongside a cobranded credit card and five new destinations.
Launched earlier this year, the Breezy Rewards program allows members to BreezePoints on all purchases with Breeze, both the flight itself and any ancillary purchases such as upgrades or checked bags, which can earn points at a higher rate. The airline also launched a cobranded credit card with Barclays, which allows members to earn even more points and comes with additional benefits.
While unable to provide specifics, Neeleman confirmed the number of loyalty members is “in the millions” and that the card is receiving a positive reaction:
“We’re really happy with it. We’re happy with the uptake rate. People are getting it, and those that have it love it.”
Photo: Breeze Airways
Up next, the airline is opening its newest pilot base at Fort Myers’ Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW). It will become the airline’s ninth base of operations nationally and third in Florida when it opens on October 1st.