Breeze Airways – up and to the right (ish)
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive weekly analysis like this for free
This analysis was sent out as part of our weekly newsletter. You can receive it for free by subscribing below:
A case study in rapid growth
Not much attention has been paid to Breeze Airways. Of that, we are also guilty.
When no airline could find enough pilots, Breeze was growing. While Alaska was buying Hawaiian, Breeze was growing. While JetBlue wasn’t buying Spirit, Breeze was growing. When Southwest was not-so-enjoying a Christmas break, Breeze was growing.
Through all of the troughs and valleys of the past three-and-a-half years, Breeze was doing one simple thing: growing.
Originally awaiting the arrival of the new A220 fleet, Breeze started operating E190 and E195 in late spring 2021. This continued for a year until rapid growth started.
Aside from a blip this fall, likely caused by Hurricane Helene, Breeze’s capacity has been moving in one direction—up and to the right.
The network has molded and shifted. Originally, it included stronger service in the middle of the country. Today, it looks a little… dare we say… JetBlueish. A north/south dominance on the East Coast is sprinkled with trans-con flights flying over, well, flyover country.
The airline continues to take delivery of new A220-300 aircraft, outfitted with 125 economy seats at five abreast and 12 “Breeze Ascent” business class seats at four abreast up front.
With nine remaining E190 aircraft and three E195s not expected to see 2025 flying, Breeze has only added 34 A220s. We say “only” not because it’s not a feat of its own to grow so quickly but because the airline has another 59 aircraft still on the way.
The rapid growth has been more of a foregone conclusion considering the relatively massive order book.
“If you build it, they will come.”
(This again proves that Field of Dreams is an aviation movie. If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, Field of Dreams is an aviation movie.)
Indeed, passengers have arrived. Load factors for Breeze have settled around 75%.
Thanks to our good friends in the U.S. government, we also have visibility to the top ticket revenue-producing routes at Breeze. It should be no surprise that most are transcontinental in nature – and Ft. Myers. In the Northeast, the “P’s” are also doing well, with both Providence and Portland (the Maine variety) performing well into Florida.
Of course, revenues are only half the story. While capacity has been moving up and to the right, what about profits?
Just as much to the right – not as much of the up.
Not any of the up, actually.
That’s a different story for another day.
Pop quiz
Back by popular demand, the quiz. Which airline is this? We’re throwing a softball this week
The answer:
The Dash-8s should have given it away.
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive weekly analysis like this for free
This analysis was sent out as part of our weekly newsletter. You can receive it for free by subscribing below:
