Earlier this week I wrote about how Avelo Airlines is ceasing all West Coast flying, instead choosing to focus all flying on the East Coast and charter operations. Well fellow ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) Breeze Airways is wasting no time, picking right up where Avelo left off.
Breeze Has Announced a Huge West Coast Expansion
In the days after Avelo’s exit from the West Coast became public, Breeze filed a major expansion in the market. Breeze’s expansion covered the vast majority of the routes that Avelo was leaving behind. The expansion will see Breeze add service to five new cities;
- California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV)
- Eugene Airport (EUG)
- Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR)
- Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM)
- Tri-Cities Airport (PSC)
With the addition of these new cities and routes, Breeze will fly more than 300 routes to 76 cities in 34 states. While I won’t list all of the new routes, you can find those here, Breeze is making quite the investment out west.
According to the airline, the expansion “is a direct response to growing demand for the airline’s successful hybrid business model,” but, in reality, Breeze is swooping in to take advantage of Avelo’s departure.
In announcing the new service, David Neeleman, Breeze Airways’ founder and CEO, said this about the expansion:
“With an expanded West Coast presence that connects travelers to our broader nationwide network, Breeze’s service will bring even more options and convenience to these underserved communities. Our continued growth is evidence that our unique form of air travel that combines affordability and ease with high-value options like premium seating and inflight Wi-Fi is not only working, but highly desired by today’s travelers.”
Avelo is planning to cease all West Coast flying on December 2, 2025 but Breeze won’t begin its service until March 2026. This gives Breeze time to judge demand in the markets it is entering and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some schedule changes between now and Breeze launching service.
While it is strange to see one carrier pull out of so many markets just to have another move in, I’m optimistic that Breeze can make this work. It operates smaller, newer, and more premium aircraft when compared to Avelo and it will be interesting to see how it does on the West Coast does now that Avelo is leaving.
Summary
Breeze Airways is making a major move on the West Coast, taking over a majority of the routes that were previously operated by Avelo Airlines. Both of these moves come as a surprise to me and it will be interesting to watch how Breeze deploys its capacity in the area that Avelo is leaving behind.