New airline Breeze Airways brings 4 routes to Pittsburgh airport

Pittsburgh International Airport will introduce four new nonstop flights to cities along the East Coast as Breeze Airways, a new airline started by JetBlue’s founder, sets up shop in Western Pennsylvania.

The airline will offer nonstop flights to Hartford, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; Norfolk, Va.; and Charleston, S.C.

They will be the first nonstop flights from Pittsburgh to Providence and Hartford.

Airport officials announced the news this week on Blue Sky, the airport’s in-house online news site.

David Neeleman, who founded JetBlue in 1998, applied for an airline operating certificate with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration in February 2020, just as the covid-19 pandemic was taking hold across the world.

Neeleman told Blue Sky that while the pandemic decimated the air travel industry, it also created an opportunity.

“The effects of the pandemic on the nation’s air service have meant many secondary and tertiary markets have seen a significant reduction in flights,” he said. “There are so many city pairs needing nonstop service around the country, we have a further 100 cities under consideration.”

Flights from Pittsburgh begin July 8. To start, Breeze has announced 39 routes among 16 cities, with fares starting at $39 one way. Neeleman told Conde Nast Traveler those 16 “are just beginning for Breeze.”

Airline officials say 95% of its routes have no nonstop routes on any airline, meaning time-consuming and often pricey connections.

“I would love to be able to get people there twice as fast for half as much money,” Neeleman told The Washington Post.

The airline bills itself as “seriously nice,” with a goal “to make the world of travel simple, affordable and convenient, using technology, ingenuity and kindness to improve the travel experience.”

Fares include options called “nice,” “nicer” and “nicest.” The airline will charge a $20 flat fee for carry-on and checked bags.

The number of passengers traveling through Pittsburgh International has been inching up each month this year, according to data from the Allegheny County Airport Authority: 219,825 in January; 228,884 in February; and 359,096 in March, the most recent month for which numbers were available.