Breeze Airways has just updated its schedule to reveal its first Airbus A220-300 routes, which is pretty exciting.
Continue reading: Breeze Reveals A220 Routes, First Class Pricing
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Great News, enjoy the JetBlue family experience so far, will see how long that pricing last once more routes and travel picks up again
It isn't just TPA... it's all of their enumerated focus cities, with the glaring exception of MSY.
A220s are now scheduled to fly:
7 routes from TPA (TUL, HSV, CHS, SDF, CAK, RIC, ORF)
4 routes from CHS (HSV, RIC, BDL, TPA)
3 routes from BDL (PIT, ORF, CHS)
2 routes from ORF (CMH, BDL)
Makes perfect sense, if you spent the 5 seconds it would take to read their mission statement: to provide nonstop jet service between small and medium markets that traditional mainline carriers don't offer.
One of the things people miss about premium in the A220 is that going 2x2 in a row requires losing only 1 seat a row (plus extra legroom) which is a huge advantage to the bean counters as each premium seat takes up less with minimum impact on perceived comfort. It's an advantage for premium heavy configurations. It will be interesting to see the price difference on longer haul, the 220 is pretty comfortable in the back and maybe not worth the upgrade on a shirt flight.
Yes, losing only one seat (out of five) per row makes offering an inexpensive First Class possible for Breeze without losing revenue.
First Class row: 4 seats x $99 each ~ $400
Economy row: 5 seats x $79 each ~ $400
So it's basically revenue neutral for Breeze. The brilliant part about it is that it brings First Class to the masses, which should prove popular. Might be the niftiest pricing concept since Costco. 🙂
Previously, Nicer seats (extra legroom) were generally $70-$90 more than nice seats for PVD-CHS. Included other Nicest amenities. I would expect the difference to rise to $100 in time, which is still a fair price premium when you figure a carry-on or checked bag is typically $30. Even that is fair.
Given how wildly different first / business class seats can be across carriers, maybe it’s time to regulate some minimum standards for each class of service.
Except for the fact that extra legroom means fewer rows in the same space. Looking at the seatplan, it appears that 4 First Class rows occupy roughly the same floorspace as 5 Economy rows, meaning a $400 "loss" for each block of 4 First Class rows!