U.S. carrier Breeze Airways removed its last Embraer 190 aircraft from service, moving to an all-Airbus A220-300 fleet to operate its expanding network.
The airline launched service in May 2021 with a fleet of 10 E190s and three E195s, but began taking delivery of A220s in December 2021 and has long planned to retire the Embraer aircraft. Breeze originally aimed to operate all scheduled flights with A220s by the start of 2025, but saw a need to keep the 10 E190s in service, particularly to serve shorter routes.
"Our long-term strategy has always been to leverage the strengths and efficiencies of the Airbus A220-300,” founder and CEO David Neeleman said.
Breeze has taken delivery of 55 of 90 A220s it has on firm order, and also has 30 A220 options. The airline configures its A220-300s with 137 seats, including 12 premium seats with 39-inch pitch.
Neeleman has said the carrier is considering adding more premium seats. “We sell our 12th [premium] seat much faster than we do our 137th seat,” he said at the Aviation Festival Americas conference in Miami earlier this year.
Utah-based Breeze operates more than 300 year-round and seasonal routes to 91 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, around 85% of which are exclusive to the carrier. The airline targets unserved or underserved markets, particularly in the domestic U.S. market.
Soon-to-be launched exclusive routes include service to Vero Beach, Florida, from both Atlantic City, New Jersey and Baltimore starting Oct. 2.
Privately-held Breeze does not report detailed financial results, but Neeleman has said the carrier was profitable in the 2026 first quarter.
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