Breeze Airways

Breeze Airways is a US airline that first flew on 27 May 2021, from Tampa to Charleston, and is headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Its founder and chief executive is David Neeleman, who earlier co-founded Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue and Azul. Breeze is privately held, so it publishes less operating data than the listed airlines on this site.

The idea: small cities, no connections

Neeleman set out plans for a new US airline in 2018 under the working name Moxy. The pitch was to fly nonstop between smaller and secondary airports that had lost service as US airlines consolidated, so passengers would not need to connect through a major hub. The Breeze name was announced on 7 February 2020. The old name survives in the airline's codes (MX/MXY) and its MOXY callsign. Federal approval came in March 2021 and the air operator's certificate on 14 May 2021, with first flights two weeks later.

Breeze calls itself a "high-value, low-cost" or premium leisure airline, and its model sits closer to a hybrid than to an ultra-low-cost carrier. The base fare includes a personal item. Carry-on and checked bags are sold individually or in bundles, much as at ultra-low-cost carriers. But the A220 cabins also include a premium section, Breeze Ascent, and from the start the plan included more spacious seating and Wi-Fi rather than an all-economy, maximum-density layout.

Network

Breeze says it has 13 crew bases and serves more than 90 cities in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and that it carried more than 5.5 million passengers in 2025. Its biggest operations include Charleston, Tampa, Providence, Norfolk, Orlando and Raleigh-Durham. International flying followed FAA certification as a US flag carrier, announced on 25 September 2025, with three initial destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. San José, Costa Rica, announced in March 2026, became its fifth international destination. Expansion in 2026 has included Atlantic City, Brownsville, Nassau, Birmingham, Tallahassee and St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, and a further three cities and 11 routes announced in June.

Fleet: from second-hand Embraers to an all-A220 operation

Breeze launched with second-hand Embraer E190 and E195 jets because its new aircraft were not yet available. Its first Airbus A220-300 arrived in December 2021. The plan was to be all-A220 on scheduled flights by the end of 2024, but the Embraers stayed longer for charter work and thinner routes. The E195s left during 2025, and the last E190 left the fleet on 7 September 2026, according to Air Data News.

Breeze does not publish an official fleet count. Air Data News, citing Airbus's August 2026 data, reported 64 A220-300s with the carrier, five of them parked: former EgyptAir aircraft placed with Breeze by the lessor Azorra. Of 90 A220-300s on firm order with Airbus, 55 had been delivered by the end of August 2026. The rest of the fleet comes from leasing companies, including new aircraft through sale-and-leaseback deals.