SANTA ANA, Calif. — Sitting amongst a stack of wooden crates filled with oranges, longtime airline CEO David Neeleman plucked one, peeled it and took a bite. He was at John Wayne Airport on Thursday celebrating the inaugural flights of his new venture, Breeze Airways, a discount carrier focusing on nonstop flights to underserved markets.

What You Need To Know

  • Discount carrier Breeze Airways began service out of John Wayne Airport on Thursday and specializes in direct flights to secondary cities

  • Breeze CEO David Neeleman said smaller markets have lost service in recent years

  • Flights out of Orange County are all direct and include Provo, Utah and Orlando, Florida

  • One-way tickets start at $39 to Provo, $69 to Orlando and $119 to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio

The carrier will service direct flights out of Orange County, California to Orlando, Provo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Providence. It will roll out all its flights by the end of March, with a range of prices for different comfort levels. 

“We’re going to succeed by going where others don’t,” Neeleman said, sharing a company motto integral to the way the airline operates.

The carrier, which likes to boast that it gets customers to their destinations faster and for less money, has upwards of 100 routes but is still building up its service. With 30 planes, many of them new, fuel-efficient A220s, Neeleman expects to add another 10 by the end of the year. All flights are nonstop, he said, a key to fuel efficiency, time savings and customer satisfaction.

The airline first took off in May 2021, pitching itself as “seriously nice” and offering discount rates with upgrades like extra leg room or first-class seats. It has also largely done away with change or cancellation fees, allowing customers to bail out up to 15 minutes before departure.

Following its slogan, the carrier has three levels of varying leg space ranging from nice, nicer to nicest. Costs vary depending on the classification. 

The idea is to provide direct service to Orange County from places that don’t already have it — not out-compete other carriers. And of the vast majority of routes they serve, he said, Breeze provides the only nonstop flight available between those cities. As for Orange County, it’s about providing access for other cities that may have an interest in nearby attractions like Disneyland.

“People love to come here,” Neeleman said. “The Newport Beach area is awesome, and people here don’t like flying out of [Los Angeles International Airport].”

In other situations, Neeleman said they’ve targeted growing cities like Huntsville, Alabama. The city has been steadily growing for decades and is now, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the largest in the state with nearly 217,000 people.

The carrier’s fleet largely consists of new A220s, which have 30 inches between seats, and E-95s, which have 31 inches between seats. Customers can upgrade to more expensive, roomier seats that have as much as 39 inches of room.

Many planes in the fleet are known for lower noise and greenhouse gas pollution, a key for John Wayne Airport director Charlene Reynolds.

“Breeze supports community interests by bringing Orange County a fleet of cleaner, quieter aircraft,” she said in a news release.

While Neeleman had been in the industry for years, it’s not the same as it was when he began. When he founded JetBlue in 1998, he incorporated internet and television onto flights.

“Now everyone has that,” he said. “Competition is a lot better.”

Tech advances like easy flight booking through Google have lowered customer acquisition costs and evened the playing field. Plus, bankruptcy enforced efficiency, he said, with many of the biggest airlines streamlining business operations after navigating rocky Great Recession waters.

While innovation allowed some airlines to survive, and Breeze to begin, some things will always be the same.

“We’re always going to offer nonstop flights,” he said. “That’s not going to change.”