Breeze Airways, the airline industry’s only ‘NLCC’, or ‘Nice Low-Cost Carrier,’ reported an operating profit for March, a major milestone for the fast-growing startup airline.
In the first quarter of 2024, the premium leisure, point-to-point carrier increased unit revenues by more than 30% year-over-year while generating more scheduled service revenue in March 2024 than in the entirety of the first quarter of 2023.
Earlier this year, Breeze announced plans to transition all scheduled service to its growing fleet of brand new A220-300 aircraft by the fall and introduced its new co-branded credit card and loyalty program, setting the stage for continued cost-efficiencies and revenue growth.
Additionally, in the first quarter of 2024, Breeze flew its five millionth Guest while achieving a controllable flight completion factor of 99.8%, a controllable on-time performance of 74.5%, and one of the lowest mishandled bags rates in the industry at 0.27 bags per 100 bags loaded.
Breeze’s business model, which combines low fares, nonstop flights, and an elevated onboard experience, including its first-class ‘Breeze Ascent’ seating and high-speed inflight WiFi, has quickly gained traction with millions of travelers, garnered the airline the highest Net Promoter Score in the industry, and scored a top five ‘Best US Airline’ ranking in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for two consecutive years.
A ‘Clean Sheet’ Airline
Breeze was founded in 2019 by serial airline entrepreneur, David Neeleman. The airline’s launch plans were temporarily put on hold in March 2020 when the pandemic shuttered the industry, but Breeze secured its certification and went for sale on May 21, 2021, taking flight just six days later.
Today, Breeze serves 56 cities across 29 states with more than 170 nonstop seasonal and year-round routes.
“This milestone is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and pure grit of the more than 1,800 Team Members who, despite a multitude of challenges and setbacks, persevered to build something truly impactful,” said Neeleman. “Starting an airline is not for the faint of heart but we have remained true to our purpose – to give millions of travelers in underserved markets access to efficient and affordable air travel.”
“It’s truly remarkable what Breeze has been able to achieve in such a short period of time,” said President Tom Doxey. “In just the first quarter of 2024 alone, Breeze realized several major wins including doubling our revenue year-over-year and launching a co-branded credit card, while running a safe, on-time operation. I’m immensely proud of this team and excited to see where we go from here.”
The “Breeze Effect”
In 1Q24, Breeze opened nine new stations and announced 11 new cities. The airline is quickly becoming the “hometown carrier” in several key markets, including in 11 cities where Breeze now is the largest carrier in terms of destinations served, by stimulating demand and driving down fares in both small and mid-sized communities while connecting them with highly desirable destinations throughout the year.
With a model predicated on filling in the gaps left behind by major carriers in secondary and underserved markets, Breeze has been able to grow Available Seat Miles (ASMs) by nearly 300% since its first year of operations.
“Hitting this target is very exciting but it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” stated Breeze Airways’ Chief Financial Officer Trent Porter. “We have a lot of growth coming and we believe we have the right mix of capital, route structure, and aircraft to make it all happen. As our Net Promoter Scores show, our Guests love our premium leisure product and we are excited to continue expanding our footprint so even more travelers can experience the ‘Breeze Effect.’”
“We knew that, to reach profitability, we would need to consistently refine our product mix and improve our experience to meet the evolving demands of travelers in a post-pandemic world,” stated Lukas Johnson, Breeze’s Chief Commercial Officer. “What we are witnessing in terms of revenue growth – especially from repeat Guests opting to upgrade to our Nicer and Nicest bundles – illustrates that we are building an airline brand and experience people actually like to fly!”
A Unique Offer
Today, Breeze is also currently offering a two-day-only promotion with 40 percent* off all roundtrip base fares when the code ‘UNIQUE’ is used at checkout on the Breeze app or at flybreeze.com. The promotion is available until Wednesday, April 10 at 11:59pm PT for travel from April 28 to June 13, 2024.
