In 2021, we saw the launch of Breeze Airways, a new ultra low cost carrier founded by serial airline entrepreneur David Neeleman (also behind JetBlue, WestJet, Azul, and more).
On the surface, the carrier’s business model seemed like a huge value-add for the traveling public — the airline primarily flies Airbus A220s in a very comfortable configuration in point-to-point markets that are underserved. Breeze is an ultra low cost carrier with a pleasant product.
As great as that sounds, so far the airline is struggling to turn a profit. Reader Robert asked if I could write an update post on how the airline is doing, so I thought that would be interesting to take a look at…
In this post:
Breeze Airways’ financials aren’t pretty
In this post I wanted to take a look at what we know about Breeze Airways’ financials. Breeze isn’t publicly traded, so we don’t get detailed financials. However, even privately owned airlines have to submit a Form 41 Financial Schedule with the US Department of Transportation (DOT), which has all kinds of fascinating details.
The website enilria.com has a detailed look at just how bad Breeze’s financials are. Let’s just take a look at Breeze’s revenue and operating expenses for five consecutive quarters from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023:
- In Q1 2022, the airline had revenue of $17,194,380 and expenses of $38,221,230, for a loss of $21,026,850, and an operating margin of -122%
- In Q2 2022, the airline had revenue of $28,113,070 and expenses of $64,617,250, for a loss of $36,504,180, and an operating margin of -130%
- In Q3 2022, the airline had revenue of $34,470,200 and expenses of $72,366,360, for a loss of $37,896,160, and an operating margin of -110%
- In Q4 2022, the airline had revenue of $55,574,110 and expenses of $86,233,630, for a loss of $30,659,520, and an operating margin of -55%
- In Q1 2023, the airline had revenue of $67,378,610 and expenses of $115,400,500, for a loss of $48,021,890, and an operating margin of -71%
Admittedly it takes some time for an airline to establish itself, and it’s expected that an airline will lose money for some amount of time after launch. That’s one of the reasons the airline raised over $300 million in capital to launch operations. By my math, the airline had an operational loss of around $175 million over the course of five quarters, which is a lot. That means the carrier has burned through nearly two-third of its startup capital in those quarters alone.
Beyond that, the margins here are just beyond awful. Admittedly they decreased a bit over time (as a percentage) as the airline ramped up operations, but to lose over $48 million on just over $67 million of revenue is horrendous.
I haven’t yet seen the data on the carrier’s Q2 2023 results. I’d expect they’d be a bit better than in Q1 2023, though perhaps not amazing, as leisure travel demand has so overwhelmingly been for long haul travel.
Why has Breeze Airways been struggling so much?
As a passenger, I love the idea of Breeze Airways, as it’s an airline with a fairly impressive product, much better than you’ll find on other ultra low cost carriers. Before the airline launched, Neeleman claimed that the company could break even with a fairly low load factor, all while parking planes for several days per week, thanks to its amazing cost structure.
So, what went wrong, causing the airline to be losing massive amounts of money? After all, the airline is flying efficient planes. Keep in mind that the DOT publishes data about demand between city pairs, so when airlines like Breeze decide which point-to-point routes to operate, they use that data to make decisions.
How can Breeze get stuff so wrong? The way I view it, there are some major issues:
- For one, Breeze’s labor costs have been way higher than expected; at the time that Breeze prepared to launch, there was a pilot surplus rather than a pilot shortage, so pilot pay has increased considerably
- Breeze has been all over the place in terms of its network, and has added and canceled routes at a pace I’ve never seen before from any airline; while it’s good to be flexible, this has caused a lot of passengers to lose faith in the airline, after a route was canceled with no alternatives
- Breeze’s network is just too fragmented, to the point that few people can really be loyal to the airline, or fly with the airline repeatedly; it’s not like Sprit, which has a huge presence in markets like Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale, etc.
- While there’s clearly demand in the markets in which Breeze is flying, I think route planners underestimated how challenging it is to gain market share as an unknown player in a market; some people probably prefer to connect on an airline they know, vs. one they haven’t heard of
- Breeze has done very little to actually market itself, so unless you happen to be searching through an online travel agency, you’d never otherwise come across this airline
- I think Breeze has the same issue as some other airlines that don’t perform so well financially, where the carrier is trying to offer a slightly better product than the competition, but can’t get a revenue premium for it; for example, Breeze has first class-style seats, though it doesn’t seem like that’s going all that well
I don’t know how things are going to play out with Breeze. However, the carrier constantly launching and then canceling routes, combined with the airline now having racked up nearly $200 million in operational losses, isn’t a good sign.
It’s interesting that Breeze has increasingly been using some of its planes for sports charters. That’s unlikely to make the airline a ton of money, but it should at least help with minimizing losses, since it’s reliable revenue. At a minimum, it should buy the airline some time.
Unless something drastically changes soon (I guess we’ll see the Q2 2023 numbers), the airline will either need more capital, or will have to do something. The airline is expected to take delivery of an average of one new Airbus A220 every month, and I’m curious if that happens as planned…
Bottom line
While it’s anyone’s guess how things play out, Breeze Airways seems to be struggling. Between Q1 2022 and Q2 2023, the airline had an operational loss of roughly $175 million, on just over $200 million in revenue. It takes airlines time to become profitable, though these numbers look bleak to me…
What do you make of Breeze’s financials, and the carrier’s prospects of becoming profitable?
Breeze has NO live actually service people that can help solve even the smallest issue . ALL on line ....no phone number is available .My first flight will be my last flight
I'd love to fly Breeze often, but it's frustrating, because they are continually running fare sale promotions, but there's either no or extremely low availability to nonstop destinations from RDU. The status of their RDU nonstop service seems very uncertain at this point.
We took a direct flight from Los Angeles to Providence on 8/26/23 and it was absolutely wonderful. Wish our return flight was on breeze!
The other issue is that the airline launched during the pandemic using far less capable and fuel efficient Embraer small jets on a wet lease. The combination of initial low market share, less than efficient and appealing aircraft, and the higher cost of a wet lease all led to operational loss. As the market picks, and increasing number of A220s replace the obsolete Embraers, margins will rise. I do think that the routes are a...
The other issue is that the airline launched during the pandemic using far less capable and fuel efficient Embraer small jets on a wet lease. The combination of initial low market share, less than efficient and appealing aircraft, and the higher cost of a wet lease all led to operational loss. As the market picks, and increasing number of A220s replace the obsolete Embraers, margins will rise. I do think that the routes are a bit too "thin" for massive passenger ramp up, but that may be a deliberate strategy. Until they have an all A220 fleet, operate from larger airports, and are household name, they cannot fully reap the on paper advantages of the lowest cost per seat mile, the widest seats in economy worldwide, the lowest load factor break even point, and the reputation for service of Mr. Nelleman's airlines. He may also be deliberately avoiding routes that would lead to legacy airlines dumping prices and put him out of business.
Give them time.
Breeze needs to have a Newark Base for winter folks flying back and forth to Florida, Vero Beach, Orlando and West Palm. They would make a lot of money.
The problem with Breeze is that they don’t give a damn about their customers. They offer a lot of attractive routes from my town. On my first flight with them they cancelled it the day before I was to depart and basically said f*off your on your own - go find a flight on another airline. If they’re around in 10 years I might consider flying with them.
I’ve taken Breeze Airlines twice, and have been very happy with their service. I hope Breeze can succeed.
Being based in Charleston, Breeze has been great for the area. Have taken them to MSY, PBI, and LAS. Their first class product to Vegas was great. Extremely comfortable reclining seat, nice snacks/drinks for the same price as a legacy carrier in economy. Even the regular seats are comfortable for a couple hours. I've found their pilots and flight attendants extremely friendly as well. Main issue with them is the constant reshuffling of routes. Have...
Being based in Charleston, Breeze has been great for the area. Have taken them to MSY, PBI, and LAS. Their first class product to Vegas was great. Extremely comfortable reclining seat, nice snacks/drinks for the same price as a legacy carrier in economy. Even the regular seats are comfortable for a couple hours. I've found their pilots and flight attendants extremely friendly as well. Main issue with them is the constant reshuffling of routes. Have had a CHS-PBI flight cancelled a week ahead of time due to them temporarily removing it from the schedule and then CHS-LAS turned into CHS-RSW-LAS. Also, when your flight is cancelled day of, you're basically out of luck and not getting to your destination with them. I really hope they can work through the issues as it's so nice not having to connect to go places from CHS.
I'm eager to fly on breeze and support their business. Im retired and their destinations dont come close to family living in MD, Texas
I'm a TSA officer out of a small airport and only Breeze flies out of it. They fill every single flight now, They seem to be getting more popular at our location and are adding flights.
I'd love to utilize Breeze but they only operate city pairs several times a week, so if your flight is cancelled, you aren't getting there any time soon. Like waiting days in-between flights won't cut it if you're attending a wedding , funeral or taking a cruise . You have to be there on time or with little delay.
I flew Breeze booked by my company.. short flight was awesome.. planes impeccably clean service fantastic.. Thing is I'd never heard about them.. never even seen an ad.. When you don't advertise something happens... nothing.
Breeze needs to replace sone of their routes with Newark, NJ and Philly areas. There are so many residents here wanting these routes and likely will increase the bookings.
How about looking at Avelo's finances? They can't be too far behind Breeze.
I love Breeze
I wish someone would define ULCC. Really, cheap seats? I look at some of these so called ULCC and not cheap. Yes, cheap options supposedly exist, such as blue basic or frontier, and MAYBE you can get a cheap seat, but you have to be willing for some major sacrifice. I looked at Breeze, which flies the ISP-JAX route which I travel often, was over $350 round trip. That is NOT low cost by any...
I wish someone would define ULCC. Really, cheap seats? I look at some of these so called ULCC and not cheap. Yes, cheap options supposedly exist, such as blue basic or frontier, and MAYBE you can get a cheap seat, but you have to be willing for some major sacrifice. I looked at Breeze, which flies the ISP-JAX route which I travel often, was over $350 round trip. That is NOT low cost by any means. On top of that no direct flight, one with a four hour "breeze-through" and on with a 7 hour stop. I can't imagine anyone would take those flights at those prices or schedules .
It is important to make the differentiation of cost vs. price. ULCC or LCC tend to have lower operating costs due to the way they run their operations (fewer fleet types, newer aircraft, etc.). Airlines like this typically have lower fares since they typically run a no-frills operation, but ultimately it is still supply and demand that are most determinant of fares. Basically calling it ULCC or LCC primarily refers to the way the airline...
It is important to make the differentiation of cost vs. price. ULCC or LCC tend to have lower operating costs due to the way they run their operations (fewer fleet types, newer aircraft, etc.). Airlines like this typically have lower fares since they typically run a no-frills operation, but ultimately it is still supply and demand that are most determinant of fares. Basically calling it ULCC or LCC primarily refers to the way the airline operates, not how much they charge for tickets.
Connections aren’t advised with Breeze. You should look at nonstop destinations and then 3-4 weeks+ out for “discount” pricing.
I love that they are in PHX, but the cities they fly too are not daily. So I can only fly them one way and then have to choose a different airline to return since they don't fly on the says i need. With that bring said I end up just using the airline that goes both days I need.
Breeze has a direct flight from MCO to SNA, a route I travel on a regular basis. There are no other direct flights. Seemed perfect. However, the flights are constantly late several hours or cancelled to the point where i don’t even consider them anymore.
They don't participate in the GDS so travel agents can't book them. Spirit and Frontier do.
Travel agent? What's that???
you do know that direct does not mean non stop dont you?
There have been signs, internally, for some time that the airline has been in trouble. Yes, the ex Allegiant Management has been the biggest issue. David N isn’t listening and has let his management team run his airline into the ground. David N has had as many failures as successes. In the beginning, it seemed like a good idea but the A220 is a white elephant and the old 190s/195s are tired. People are fed...
There have been signs, internally, for some time that the airline has been in trouble. Yes, the ex Allegiant Management has been the biggest issue. David N isn’t listening and has let his management team run his airline into the ground. David N has had as many failures as successes. In the beginning, it seemed like a good idea but the A220 is a white elephant and the old 190s/195s are tired. People are fed up and leaving as no one trusts anything management says anymore.
It was a mess from the start and then the Allegiant showed up and have really ruined this airline and what could have been. Anyone remember PeopleExpress?
I remember. I used to hide in the bathroom while the stewardess collected the $19 for the flight. Newark to Buffalo.lol
Originally, it had decent management but quite a few ex Allegiant alum have taken over. The operation is a mess and the A220 is a Giant White Elephant. The company consistently strands passengers, loses bags and delays a lot of flights. Internally, the culture has melted down and so many good people have left and continue to do so. Mr. Neeleman has had as many failures in his past as successes. The idea started out...
Originally, it had decent management but quite a few ex Allegiant alum have taken over. The operation is a mess and the A220 is a Giant White Elephant. The company consistently strands passengers, loses bags and delays a lot of flights. Internally, the culture has melted down and so many good people have left and continue to do so. Mr. Neeleman has had as many failures in his past as successes. The idea started out ok but it has been a nightmare for two years now. Simply, the have grown too fast and change,or cancel, routes too many times. Does anyone remember PeopleExpress?
DL might be happy to see the demise of Breeze and buy those used A220s for their fleet out of bankruptcy. I am guessing those jets however are leased or on a sale and lease back contract.
I'm sure the A220 leasing company(s) already have the DL or B6 phone numbers in their rolodex. ;-)
Two A220s for the price of one lease!!
I can see B6 "rescuing" them in the same way AA "rescued" TWA. They get their hands on more A220s & pilots and use it as a test run before integrating Spirit....which I expect to be an epic disaster.
There's been a fair bit of commentary on this flying about the place. They have no clear strategy, they're a low-cost carrier with two fleet types and business class, they say they seek 'unserved routes' yet a good chunk of their routes already have competition, their tagline is 'Nice, New and Nonstop' yet a good few of their flights now have stopovers. Whoever is in charge is asleep at the wheel.
Duh, how dumb to fly out of San Bernadino when Ontario Intl is 10 minutes away.
...in what universe?
10 minutes by helicopter.
Planes don't make money unless thier in the air. Parking a few days a week is hurting them. Especially if only flying say 20 days a month.
How is Avelo doing? Less comfortable (first row is OK though) but pretty reliable for the price. I usually fly AA F but Avelo is a really nice choice.
Avelo is absolutely smashing Breeze performance-wise. They're half Breeze's size yet their revenue is double.
And Avelo is using slightly used 737-800s instead of wasting money on brand new A220s. I love the A220 and would take it any day over a 737-800. When Avelo and Breeze were were in their infancy and neither of which had any aircraft I thought Avelo would be in the position that Breeze finds itself in. Avelo has certainly done much better than Breeze.
Why did you think Avelo would be in Breeze’s position before either of them had aircraft?
There was an airline in Canada called BREEZE AIRLINES. They flew 767's and only in business couple of years.
Guess US carrier copying name and business history!LOL
Huge issue is the schedule. Not flying daily to destinations causes a huge issue with cancellations. One flight cancelled, and you may not get rescheduled for days. Not enough options available to shuffle people stound.
As a professional pilot myself I can tell you with certainty the Pilot shortage was here and very real way before Breeze launched. Every single pilot with 1-2+ years airline experience was saying out loud where are they are going to get pilots ? We laughed at the pay scales. David N is one of those guys that simply can’t be told anything. He also would insult pilots in new hire training. He told my...
As a professional pilot myself I can tell you with certainty the Pilot shortage was here and very real way before Breeze launched. Every single pilot with 1-2+ years airline experience was saying out loud where are they are going to get pilots ? We laughed at the pay scales. David N is one of those guys that simply can’t be told anything. He also would insult pilots in new hire training. He told my friends pilot class the biggest mistake he made at JetBlue was give pilots more control They only had a small class of 4 and each one of them resigned within 2 months. went from excited to disgusted the second they got to meet David. Pilots even at Spirit and Frontier legitimately laugh at Breeze that’s how poor it is. They do pay 5X for open time trips because they lack pilots so badly. It’s enjoyable to watch from afar.
You need to compare Breeze compensation to the regionals, not major carriers. It is understood that being a pilot for Breeze is a stepping stone to a larger airline.
A problem that could plague Breeze is pilot turnover. Pilots might sign on at Breeze merely to gain experience making them more marketable to the more financially secure and higher paying “majors” like DAL, UAL, AA, SWA and JBLU.
They built their airline around the A220, a pre-covid plane, when there was a surplus of pilots and operating costs were low. Now with a pilot shortage, inflation, tight labor market, and suddenly it's simply not financially feasible. Even the XLR is not looking to be the world beater pundits once thought it would be. Bring on the 777X asap, Boeing...this is what the aviation world needs now.
"Bring on the 777X asap, Boeing...this is what the aviation world needs now."
If that were the case, one variant would likely have a lot more orders than it does, and the other wouldn't have questions of whether it'd even be produced.
Breeze support is email only. I tried to book and ran into a snag. I emailed them, never heard back. No more Breeze.
Breeze flies non-stop from Hartford to Columbus where my daughter lives. No other airline does goes there non-stop. I have flown Breeze 4 or 5 times since they launched in 2021. I have no complaints. I just hope they can overcome their financial challenges.
SkyBus 2.0
Could you do a more in-depth comparison between Breeze and Avelo? As a native Charlestionian, I was excited to see them focusing on that airport, but that seems to have fallen apart quickly. Meanwhile, I'm now based in Wilmington, DE, and Avelo has done well at that airport (helps that PHL is both gross and expensive, and I'll drive past it to EWR or south to BWI). Avelo seems to advertise much more, and the...
Could you do a more in-depth comparison between Breeze and Avelo? As a native Charlestionian, I was excited to see them focusing on that airport, but that seems to have fallen apart quickly. Meanwhile, I'm now based in Wilmington, DE, and Avelo has done well at that airport (helps that PHL is both gross and expensive, and I'll drive past it to EWR or south to BWI). Avelo seems to advertise much more, and the cost structure of ex-Southwest old 737s is much cheaper. The A220 is a nice plane, but it's rather too expensive and the E190 isn't great for longer flights.
I believe Breezes real problem if I must speculate, is it's not their route selection, or lack of advertising. But the delay in them receiving the aircraft[a-220] they expected on time. If you don't have the aircraft, you can't have the frequency, that's why Needleman stated they will have 50 aircraft next year, it's frequency.That's what they are counting on to make a better evaluation of their airline.
That makes no sense. Even if they had 100 aircraft, they still wouldn't be able to make money with them if no one knew who they were or where they fly.
Maybe, just maybe, the "underserved" markets Breeze is flying were underserved for a reason? E.g: there's not enough demand there.
All you have to do is read the replies under their posts on Facebook to know that customers either love them or HATE them. Seriously, that is what they use for customer service. Facebook. My first flight was delayed for two hours. My return flight was cancelled outright with only a few hours notice. I was able to get a Delta flight home (the day before Thanksgiving) for $1200 which Breeze did reimburse in full,...
All you have to do is read the replies under their posts on Facebook to know that customers either love them or HATE them. Seriously, that is what they use for customer service. Facebook. My first flight was delayed for two hours. My return flight was cancelled outright with only a few hours notice. I was able to get a Delta flight home (the day before Thanksgiving) for $1200 which Breeze did reimburse in full, but it took 8 weeks and all communication was done through Facebook!!!
Quite a few LCCs have already disappeared this year (Blue Air from Romania, which suspended operations last year but disappeared for good this year, Fly Gangwon from South Korea, Flyr from Norway, Go First from India, Viva Air in Peru and Colombia, Ultra Air also from Colombia). Will Breeze join them this year?
Also, while not an LCC, Air Moldova went out of business earlier this year. Ironically Moldova doesn't have a national airline anymore but does have LCCs...
I would love to fly Breeze as it's at my regional airport and go to some nice spots for a weekend getaway. Unfortunately the flight schedule don't allow for any weekend getaways.
I agree that Breeze’s network is too fragmented. They need strong bases for their business model to work. Look at Avelo. At first, I thought it was kind of clever and innovative that their route network focused on undeserved cities, but now they’ve taken that idea too far. It feels like they’re literally just cherry picking a bunch of random city pairs. That doesn’t work well when they don’t make the general public aware of...
I agree that Breeze’s network is too fragmented. They need strong bases for their business model to work. Look at Avelo. At first, I thought it was kind of clever and innovative that their route network focused on undeserved cities, but now they’ve taken that idea too far. It feels like they’re literally just cherry picking a bunch of random city pairs. That doesn’t work well when they don’t make the general public aware of them even in cities they serve. This is the mistake Skybus made 15 years ago that led to their demise.
"This is the mistake Skybus made 15 years ago that led to their demise."
That's actually the exact opposite of the problem Skybus had. For most of its history, almost every Skybus flight touched Columbus, OH or Greensboro, NC, despite the fact that Skybus didn't offer scheduled connections, and Columbus and Greensboro have comparatively minuscule O&D traffic. So passengers not coming from or going to Columbus or Greensboro, had to book multiple flights to get...
"This is the mistake Skybus made 15 years ago that led to their demise."
That's actually the exact opposite of the problem Skybus had. For most of its history, almost every Skybus flight touched Columbus, OH or Greensboro, NC, despite the fact that Skybus didn't offer scheduled connections, and Columbus and Greensboro have comparatively minuscule O&D traffic. So passengers not coming from or going to Columbus or Greensboro, had to book multiple flights to get anywhere on Skybus other than Florida, and those flights often misconnected due to the airline's low reliability, leaving people stranded and with no alternatives.
Lots of bad press followed, and the beginnings of the 2008 fuel crisis, which would mean nothing today but was horrid to airlines back then, did the rest.
They should not have ordered A220's. That is a large upfront capital expense and the fuel savings does not outweigh the ownership expense over the E195 on all but the transcon routes.
Exactly. I was scratching my head when they chose the CS 300 (it is a Bombardier, not an Airbus plane, not matter who is marketing it) over the E-Jets from Embraer.
it is a Bombardier, not an Airbus plane, not matter who is marketing it
Not according to its certificate, which no longer labels it as CS100/300 in the last two updates.
If you don't believe it, have someone try to sue Bombardier for an issue with the aircraft now, and see how far they'd get.
The clearly aren’t paying for them upfront. With $300 million in capital, they could only buy 3 or 4.
A lot of their routes leave me scratching my head, lack of demand is why other carriers don't fly those routes, and cheap fares can only stimulate so much demand. They would be smart to reduce their network and be much more picky about their routes, like Avelo. Now they are finally adding routes where there is competition. Adding the E-Jet fleet was an expensive mistake, those planes are cheap for a reason. And the...
A lot of their routes leave me scratching my head, lack of demand is why other carriers don't fly those routes, and cheap fares can only stimulate so much demand. They would be smart to reduce their network and be much more picky about their routes, like Avelo. Now they are finally adding routes where there is competition. Adding the E-Jet fleet was an expensive mistake, those planes are cheap for a reason. And the other factor here is labor costs, Neeleman planned on very low crew costs to make these routes work, and the labor costs went through the roof.
I flew Breeze for the first time 2 weeks ago SFO-CHS(via Richmond, VA). Flight was delayed an hour leaving SFO, "Nicest" seats were indeed nice. No wifi was a let down but I enjoyed the flight for sure. Service was good, the A220 is a great plane. The long first leg was full, the 2nd leg was very empty.
Even as an AV Geek, wanting to intentionally flying them, was not able to do so over the past 2 years just because their routes are too bad. I am not even sure there are even a demind for their routes at all. I kindly of understanding that southwest flying into a small or less popular airport that type of business, but for breeze, it is like you have to chase them to find where...
Even as an AV Geek, wanting to intentionally flying them, was not able to do so over the past 2 years just because their routes are too bad. I am not even sure there are even a demind for their routes at all. I kindly of understanding that southwest flying into a small or less popular airport that type of business, but for breeze, it is like you have to chase them to find where they actually fly and they place they fly to is somewhere you hardly find another flight to go somewhere else. So I would assume only the passengers would actually fly that route occasionally will fly them. Certainly not for me. Even passengers actually fly their routes, I have noticed changes of the major cities they serve significantly as well. I am not sure how unreliable on that. I would not surprise if they ran out of business lol
Too unreliable to be successful. Can't count on them. The Vero/NYC flights are always late or cancelled. Much better if they raised prices and were on time.
I found Breeze by accident wen I was looking for cheap flights to Cincinnati from SoCal and got a really good deal on the RT ticket thinking that it was their standard rate. Everything about my flight was great except $5 for a can of soda or $12 cup of instant soup. Glad I brought my own. At least water was free. I didn't like the seats on the Bombardier Airbus plane, it had no...
I found Breeze by accident wen I was looking for cheap flights to Cincinnati from SoCal and got a really good deal on the RT ticket thinking that it was their standard rate. Everything about my flight was great except $5 for a can of soda or $12 cup of instant soup. Glad I brought my own. At least water was free. I didn't like the seats on the Bombardier Airbus plane, it had no cushioning and were uncomfortable and I wasn't the only one to think so. When I went to take another flight to Cincinnati, the price tripled. So now I don't plan to use Breeze. I don't think anyone knows about them still. I also think they have too many routes for a startup airline. Their app sucks too.
But yet they keep growing and expanding. Something is going on that none of us understands, but Breeze and their financiers know.
But yet they keep growing and expanding.
Unfortunately, that doesn't indicate financial health nor strategic vision.
Rampant growth/expansion was also the hallmark of WOW Air.... and where are they, right now?
But we are not talking about a foreign airline, we are speaking domestic. WOW had problems totally different logistically and financially than Breeze. AT this point we are all just speculating, or at best jumping to conclusions and swinging in the dark. By January their condition should be more clear one way or the other.
There's plenty of very stupid financiers out there
Here in Rhode Island, they announced PVD was a hub but every time I look at their site the routes they advertised are gone.
The routes that they do keep do not have a consistent schedule so you have to be a very specific schedule to make it work.
PVD-LAX- is daily but now ends on 9/5 with no one knowing if it will come back.
PVD-JAX- currently daily service, stop on Labor Day,...
Here in Rhode Island, they announced PVD was a hub but every time I look at their site the routes they advertised are gone.
The routes that they do keep do not have a consistent schedule so you have to be a very specific schedule to make it work.
PVD-LAX- is daily but now ends on 9/5 with no one knowing if it will come back.
PVD-JAX- currently daily service, stop on Labor Day, comes back in November twice a week for two months and then disappears again.
PVD to PIT- some weeks its 2x and some its 4x
PVD-CVG- Ends on 9/5
PVD- CMH- Ends 9/2
PVD-ORH- Currently daily, after Labor Day only Friday and Monday
PVD-SNA- Daily through Labor Day, gone for two weeks, daily until 11/14
Similar situation here at MSY. Breeze made lots of noises about MSY as a focus city, lots of service, etc. Yet, Palm Beach service (good substitute for FLL) came and went in a flash!! Service to LAX evaporates in September. The remaining destinations are of no value as second tier locations are as original choices. This "flash in a pan" scheduling will scare off repeat customers which provide long term survival.
Also, as mentioned...
Similar situation here at MSY. Breeze made lots of noises about MSY as a focus city, lots of service, etc. Yet, Palm Beach service (good substitute for FLL) came and went in a flash!! Service to LAX evaporates in September. The remaining destinations are of no value as second tier locations are as original choices. This "flash in a pan" scheduling will scare off repeat customers which provide long term survival.
Also, as mentioned in this string, looks like they're burning thru cash. Should have stuck with the second hand E-jets at cut rate prices versus the A220 at shiny new leasing rates. Hope DL can pick up the A220's when they go belly up!!
The remaining destinations are of no value as second tier locations are as original choices.
Not really sure how you can make that claim, when MX flies to most of MSY's largest then-unserved O&D markets (RDU, CHS, XNA, JAX, etc).
About the only one they're missing is PDX, which had previously been scheduled for AS prior to MX initially launching service to MSY.
With respect to “route disappears again” in January… I believe they simply haven’t published their mid-January and later schedule yet. They probably have the shortest published schedule of any US airline. Seems like they are still trying to get into a groove with respect to routing and scheduling.
Correctly stated losses aren't cash flow. And cash flow burn can be slowed by things like paying vendors 30 days later than currently paid. The way I see it Breeze has tried to launch like JetBlue well more than 20 years ago. But JetBlue got lucky with at the time an airport under utilized domestically in a huge market. Legacy airlines that were aggressively cutting amenities (the add on fees craze hadn't yet quite started)...
Correctly stated losses aren't cash flow. And cash flow burn can be slowed by things like paying vendors 30 days later than currently paid. The way I see it Breeze has tried to launch like JetBlue well more than 20 years ago. But JetBlue got lucky with at the time an airport under utilized domestically in a huge market. Legacy airlines that were aggressively cutting amenities (the add on fees craze hadn't yet quite started) while JetBlue was providing new amenities. A huge and concentrated market that made "word of mouth" much easier. Hiring young workers willing to work for less. Those advantages aren't around today.
Breeze has an identity crisis problem. They can’t figure out what kind of airline they want to be. Are they a ULCC or a legacy one?
Not seeing how that's their problem at all. They're clearly a ULCC. Offering bigger seats doesn't change that: so does Spirit.
Breeze's problems are that no one knows who they are, or where they fly. And they're not really doing anything to change that.
Agree on the comments about not being reliable. I flew them last month and my take away was even the slightest issue will result in delays. Their network just isn't robust enough to deal with even minor issues. On my direct nonstop flight home from LAS to Huntsville AL a technical stop was added for refueling due to excessive heat in LAS. It is understandable this could occur however our stop was in SFO, nearly...
Agree on the comments about not being reliable. I flew them last month and my take away was even the slightest issue will result in delays. Their network just isn't robust enough to deal with even minor issues. On my direct nonstop flight home from LAS to Huntsville AL a technical stop was added for refueling due to excessive heat in LAS. It is understandable this could occur however our stop was in SFO, nearly 400 miles further from the destination. The only way I could wrap my head around such a wasteful stop was their network didn't have any other refueling options on that day of the week. Our 3.5 hour flight became almost 7. Agree the product is good if not for such a horrible roll out.
At least out of XNA, their reliability is pretty abysmal. I have friends who have experienced severe delays/cancellations with no recourse for alternate transportation, and I’ve noticed flying in/out of XNA (on other airlines) that Breeze flights are almost always delayed. All of this is anecdotal I know, but they’re getting a bit of a reputation unfortunately.
It's the reverse JetBlue problem. Network is too patchy and not focused enough on a good solid hub
I love that Breeze has a non stop to Charleston option. The only other airline I'm aware of with that choice is Silver. I do not want to fly to Charleston via Houston from Tampa. Hoping they hang in there. Both flights were fine. I guess I should try Silver just in case.
I hope they succeed (and bring back the HPN to LAX route!).
I was really looking forward to flying their HPN transcontinental routes. Then they axed LAS after a month, moved LAX to terrible timing and then ended it, and dropped SFO without even a single flight.
Of course, HPN's terminal is inadequate for the existing number of flights, so maybe it's better this way?
I think the Neeleman name gave pause to people's initial intuition:
That this is the sloppiest rollout of a haphazard aviation business model, since SkyBus.
Fully agree with you. The fact that Neeleman is behind this made me overconfident at the beginning that it was going to succeed. I think if they don’t fix things soon it’s just going to be Skybus all over again.
Yep. And sadly, that doesn't seem to be happening.
I'm betting that Delta already has registrations picked out for those Breeze A220s.....
I salute the effort to add real financial information to OMAAT!
“By my math, the airline had an operational loss of around $175 million over the course of five quarters, which is a lot. That means the carrier has burned through nearly two-third of its startup capital in those quarters alone”
No. Operating Income ≠ Cash Flow.
While I’m sure they’ve burned through a lot of cash, you can’t make that kind of statement about...
I salute the effort to add real financial information to OMAAT!
“By my math, the airline had an operational loss of around $175 million over the course of five quarters, which is a lot. That means the carrier has burned through nearly two-third of its startup capital in those quarters alone”
No. Operating Income ≠ Cash Flow.
While I’m sure they’ve burned through a lot of cash, you can’t make that kind of statement about their cash/working capital situation with those numbers alone.
I think their issue is being a ULCC isn't a competitive advantage. Everyone is a ULCC essentially these days -- the big three have figured out how to compete/unbundle fares for the most cost conscious.
I think if airlines wanted to differentiate they need to start figuring out a service premium on a focused route network. That can be better seats, better technology (i.e free gate to gate wifi), better checked bag policies, etc.
First and foremost, how can anyone other than AvGeeks be expected to fly Breeze, when they DON'T KNOW IT'S THERE??
The airline doesn't advertise worth a damn; it has zero brand equity among the general public; and it announces, then launches, then cancels routes, sometimes in the span of 60days or less!
How can anyone, other than those flying on a last-minute whim, be expected to choose this carrier?
Exactly.
Ready for a weekend getaway, this weekend? Breeze!
Planning next summer’s vacation? Not Breeze!
Fair point. I've only flown Breeze because I set out to fly them purposely. But even at that level of following the industry and working in it, plus being an enthusiast, I don't know where the heck they fly. I sat next to someone on a flight last week on a major airline who asked me if I'd heard of Breeze. She had at least heard of them, and read something about good product, but...
Fair point. I've only flown Breeze because I set out to fly them purposely. But even at that level of following the industry and working in it, plus being an enthusiast, I don't know where the heck they fly. I sat next to someone on a flight last week on a major airline who asked me if I'd heard of Breeze. She had at least heard of them, and read something about good product, but said when she went to figure out where they flew, she couldn't find anything but a late evening flight to Akron. That's a problem.
Really good point. I know a family who recently flew a different airline on a route that Breeze flies nonstop. They connected somewhere, so I asked them why they didn't fly the nonstop on Breeze, which was probably the same price or cheaper? I expected them to say something like "I don't trust a new airline," but their response was "What's Breeze?"
They really should be blanketing the airwaves and do targeted internet advertising in...
Really good point. I know a family who recently flew a different airline on a route that Breeze flies nonstop. They connected somewhere, so I asked them why they didn't fly the nonstop on Breeze, which was probably the same price or cheaper? I expected them to say something like "I don't trust a new airline," but their response was "What's Breeze?"
They really should be blanketing the airwaves and do targeted internet advertising in the markets they serve. But I haven't heard a peep from them.