David Neeleman’s new low-cost airline Breeze is set to take off in May. It’s resting its hopes on leisure travel fueled by pandemic fatigue – and college student flight attendants.t’s late March and David Neeleman is holding court at a folding table littered with paper plates and the remains of a pasta lunch in a hangar at Long Island MacArthur Airport.
“Humans are meant to socialize,” says Neeleman, who over the past year has publicly argued that the pandemic wasn’t dangerous enough to justify broad lockdown measures. “They’re not meant to be cooped up in their houses and walking around with masks on.” But with another new ultra-low-cost carrier spooling up to launch this spring — Avelo from former Allegiant President Andrew Levy — there will suddenly be six budget airlines in America, all competing for a price-sensitive market that’s shrunk. “There’s going to be a bloodbath,” says Henry Haarteveldt of Atmosphere Research. “I don’t expect airlines to give up market share to Breeze without a fight.
Neeleman is also aiming to cut costs — and headcount — by designing the airline around new technology, chiefly a smartphone app that he intends to handle all interactions with customers until they board the plane. Bye-bye, big call center staff. Neeleman demurs on whether the program will save Breeze money but clearly cycling flight attendants out after they earn a four-year degree will avoid pay raises that come with seniority. After 13 years, flight attendants can make upward of $70,000 a year at Delta, United and American. Breeze, on the other hand, will pay a fixed monthly wage of $1,200 for 15 days of work, provide company housing and cover $6,000 in tuition for online coursework.
That $100 million covers only half of Breeze’s startup costs — it expects to spend $57.5 million to get up and running and $149.6 million in first-year operating expenses, according to federal filings. Neeleman’s planning to conserve cash by immediately selling his new A220s to a leasing company and then leasing them back. He’s aiming to ramp quickly and turn a profit by 2022.
I dont think so.
This is the second article with a different headline about this guy. How much is he paying you?
Why? To save humanity by flying even more airplanes? Or does he just want money?
boycott JetBlue
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