The friendly skies are about to get a whole lot “nicer” with the launch of Breeze Airways, a new low-cost airline with the goal of being “seriously nice.”
The brainchild of JetBlue founder David Neeleman, Breeze aims to provide “nonstop service between underserved routes across the U.S. at affordable fares.” The company claims that 95% of its routes currently have no nonstop airline service.
The airline was announced in Feb. 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I really didn’t want to launch in the heat of COVID,” Neeleman told The Washington Post. “When we saw that vaccines were kind of on the horizon, I said, ‘Let’s just slow our roll a little bit and try to hit this thing, try to get the timing right.’”
The first flights, starting on May 27, will operate from Tampa, Fla., Charleston, S.C. and Hartford, C.T., with flights to new destinations being added every week through the end of July, including Tulsa, Okla, Norfolk, Va., New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Akron, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio.
The company will focus on flights from four main airports: Tampa, Charleston, Norfolk and New Orleans.
Fares start at just $39 — similar to the model championed by low-cost airline Spirit, fees will be added for checked bags ($20 each per one-way flight, up to three bags), seat assignments (starting at $10) and traveling with a pet in the cabin ($79).
But there will be no fees for changing or canceling flights.
“Covid’s been really tough on our industry but we’ve been able to take advantage of low aircraft prices,” Neeleman told CNBC on Friday. “We have really low prices. We’re flying routes that really haven’t been flown nonstop, really, ever, and with really low trip costs.”
Passengers can choose from “Nice” seats, the most affordable fares, “Nicer” seats, featuring extra legroom, and “Nicest,” a business class which will be introduced in the fall — a nod to the company’s mission of being “seriously nice.”
“We can’t always control everything, but we can control being nice,” Neeleman told the Post about his approach to Breeze’s employees. “I think we’ve convinced our people that if you’re nice, then your job’s a lot more fun.”
In terms of entertainment and snacks, two hallmarks of JetBlue, shorter flights will allow passengers to stream free inflight entertainment to their personal devices, and snacks will include KIND bars and snacks from Utz.
Neeleman said in a statement: ”The fastest way to put butts in seats is to put Utz in seats!"
"We're thrilled to partner with Breeze Airways and support their innovative approach to air travel, and ultimately showing how kindness can take the travel experience to new heights,” Sonja Hagen-Cole, KIND's Sr. Director of Partnerships, said in a statement.
Breeze will operate 13 single-class Embraer jets for shorter flights in summer. All of those aircraft will be seated in a two-by-two seat configuration, without middle seats.
Longer routes, which will be announced in the fall, will be Airbus A220 aircraft, which will include WiFi connectivity as well as the two-by-two seats for the “Nicest” seating in the premium cabin. The rest of the plan will feature a two-by-three seat configuration.
Breeze is the second airline to launch in 2021, joining Avelo Airlines, another low-cost carrier which launched in April.