Breeze Airways Raises $83 Million in Capital

Breeze Airways, the new low-budget carrier from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, has secured an additional $83 million in financing ahead of its launch next year, according to Travel Weekly.

The carrier now has more than $100 million, “more than adequate balance sheet strength to launch its new operations,” the company said in a recent regulatory filing.

Breeze pushed back its start date to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic in a July announcement.

Neeleman, who founded JetBlue in 1998 and Brazil’s Azul in 2008, decided to wait on the initial launch because of the pandemic and since Breeze is still in the process of acquiring a fleet of Airbus A220 and Embraer 195 narrowbody, single-aisle aircraft. And it still needs to fully hire and train its staff, including flight attendants and pilots.

The new airline’s strategy will be to connect city pairs that are under-served by major airlines, particularly those that have lost nonstop service due to airline consolidation over the past decade-plus.

Breeze’s new capital raise was led by the investment management firm Peterson Partners and the private investment firm Sandlot. Peterson Partners also invested with Neeleman when he founded JetBlue and Azul, Travel Weekly noted.