Breeze Airways Launches Its 1st Transcontinental Flight To Los Angeles International

Just five months after its inaugural flight from Westchester County Airport, low-cost carrier Breeze Airways is expanding with two new routes, with the addition of flight services to Los Angeles International Airport and Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport. One-way airfare prices for each route start from $109 and $74, respectively.

Expanding convenience from Westchester County

Daily flight services to Los Angeles will begin on November 2nd, whereas flights to Sarasota-Bradenton will start on the same day but with a thrice-weekly schedule instead. With the inclusion of the two new routes, the Utah-based budget carrier now serves nine cities out of Westchester County Airport, located approximately 30 miles north of bustling New York City.

The nine destinations are non-stop flight services to Charleston, Jacksonville, Nashville, Norfolk, Vero Beach, and Savannah. Breeze Airways also offers one-stop flight services to New Orleans. Altogether, they make the budget carrier the busiest airline out of Westchester County Airport.

Photo: Airbus

The flight services to Los Angeles will also mark the airline’s first transcontinental flight out of Westchester County Airport. And celebrating these milestones was David Neeleman, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer and well-known airline founder, said:

“As a former resident, I know first-hand that Westchester County Airport is the most convenient New York-area airport for many travelers! However, before Breeze, there was very limited commercial service – especially nonstop flights. Now Westchester and Fairfield County residents can save time and money when flying to the West Coast and beyond.”

Of all the flight services served out of Westchester County Airport, only flights to Charleston and Los Angeles will be operated using Breeze Airways’ Airbus A220-300 aircraft. The Airbus A220-300 is the only aircraft type within the airline’s fleet that offers three different bundle options for passengers. The Nicest Bundle features First Class-style seats that pitch 39 inches in a two-by-two configuration.

Then there is the Nicer Bundle, which offers Extra Legroom seats that pitch 32 inches for slightly more comfort and affordable pricing. Otherwise, passengers can choose the Nice Bundle with Standard Economy seats that pitch 30 inches. The remaining flights out of Westchester County Airport will be operated on the airline’s Embraer E-190 and E-195 fleet, which only offers the Nice and Nicer bundles to passengers.

Photo: Embraer

The forgotten San Francisco

Surprisingly, transcontinental flights from Westchester County Airport to Los Angeles were initially scheduled to take-off on September 7th, followed by flight services to San Francisco International Airport on November 2nd. Both of these destinations would have been the furthest West destination flown from Westchester County, and both were supposed to be operated by Breeze Airways.

The budget carrier had forecasted these ambitions in April this year, but unfortunately, plans to service the New York-San Francisco route were scrapped later in August. If the route had carried on, Breeze Airways would have been competing against various more dominant carriers flying to the New York metro area, such as United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue.

However, Breeze Airways stated that heavy competition wasn’t why San Francisco was struck off its planning list. Instead, the low-cost carrier commented at that time:

“Aircraft deliveries have been delayed. It wasn’t a decision based on competition. We will still continue to grow nationally and from San Francisco.”

Photo: Breeze Airways

The low-cost carrier was likely planning also to use its Airbus A220-300s for San Francisco, and given Airbus’ slowed production and delivery due to supply chain issues, the airline might have to wait a while longer to receive its remaining three aircraft on order.

But despite its reasoning, Breeze Airways did not determine if San Francisco will be reinstated for future plans out of Westchester County Airport. So it remains unclear if the axed route will be temporarily or permanently cut, especially since San Francisco has not been the airline’s most profitable destination.

What do you think of Breeze Airways’ expansion out of Westchester County Airport? Let us know in the comments below.