David Neeleman, chief executive of Breeze Airways (MX, Salt Lake City), believes there’s enough market potential in the United States for the company to have a fleet of up to 400 aircraft.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Neeleman said the company currently operates a fleet of about 50 aircraft, with a firm order for an additional ninety Airbus A220s plus an option to go to 120.
Breeze has looked into the underserved potential across the country, “and we think there’s enough market for about 400 aeroplanes. And we only have 50. So it is a tremendous growth opportunity, and there’s a lot of leverage if you can get it right,” he said.
Moreover, Neeleman believes the airline has the apt choice of aircraft to maintain growth in underserved markets and stay away from going one-on-one with the big three in the United States, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.
“Our goal is to create something that is not akin to an airline because the challenge that Spirit Airlines ran into is that their planes got so big that they had to overlay Delta, United, American. And that’s a really though business to be in because they could just create basic economy and match everything they were doing. So it is just finding those markets,” he said.
The company was recently awarded US flag carrier status, which will allow the company to debut international operations, with flights to Cancún, Montego Bay, and Punta Cana starting in early 2026.
Being allowed to reach international destinations will permit Breeze Airways to increase the Saturday utilisation, which has been the off-day for travel in the United States, said Neeleman.
ch-aviation data shows that Breeze Airways operates forty-three A220-300s, ten E190s, and two (inactive) E195s.
