Amid Continued Expansion, Breeze Airways Marks Five Years in Pittsburgh

Breeze Airways this month celebrated the launch of another new route and a significant milestone for one of Pittsburgh International Airport’s fastest-growing carriers: five years of service at PIT.

PIT and Breeze marked its new service to Myrtle Beach, S.C. with a gate event celebration July 6. Passengers on the flight were offered free cookies, water and airport-themed giveaway items, as is customary with all new flights launched at PIT.

Breeze becomes the third carrier at PIT to offer nonstop service to Myrtle Beach, joining Allegiant Air and Southwest Airlines and making it one of the airport’s busiest nonstop markets by airline count. Breeze’s Pittsburgh-Myrtle Beach service, initially announced as seasonal, is now offered year-round, operating on Monday and Fridays.

Myrtle Beach is one of several new routes launched or announced by Breeze from Pittsburgh this year.

Breeze began twice weekly, nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Louisville on April 30, connecting business ties in several industries including finance, education and healthcare shared between the two cities. Breeze’s Pittsburgh-Louisville route, initially scheduled to run seasonally through September, is now for sale through January 2027.

In May, Breeze announced a multi-city expansion from Pittsburgh, with thrice weekly nonstop service to Vero Beach, Fla., starting Oct. 1, PIT’s first-ever service to the growing Florida Atlantic coastal town, and thrice weekly flights each to Cancun, Mexico, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, starting Jan. 7, 2027, the airline’s first international service from Pittsburgh.

“Breeze has been an excellent airline partner to work with expanding our portfolio of nonstop flights and destinations from our market,” said Joe Rotterdam, vice president of Air Service Development at PIT. “Growing from four initial nonstop destinations to 18 in five years demonstrates Breeze’s success from investing in Pittsburgh, and we are really excited to continue supporting their future growth.”

Breeze began service in Pittsburgh on July 8, 2021, as one of the airline’s first 16 cities, and now has the second-most nonstop destinations of any carrier at PIT only behind Southwest Airlines’ 22.

A “Nice” way to travel

Breeze launched its operations in May 2021, just two months before it entered Pittsburgh. Founded by airline entrepreneur David Neeleman, who also started Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue Airways and Azul Linhas Aereas, Breeze’s business model connects underserved markets with nonstop flights through a “point-to-point” network model bypassing connections offered through major hubs.

Breeze uses an a la carte pricing model like budget carriers. However, it refers to itself not as an ultra-low-cost carrier but a “Nice” airline, focusing on offering low fares while striving for a premium passenger experience. It employs technology, particularly on customer service functions, to simplify common requests like rebooking from flight cancellations and reservation changes.

Onboard, Breeze offers three seating classes: “Nice” standard economy seating, “Nicer” extra legroom seating, and “Nicest” domestic first class-style seating. It also offers high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi, in-seat power in all classes, buy-on-board snacks and drinks and free family seating.

While Breeze initially began flights using second-hand Embraer E190 and E195 aircraft, the Airbus A220-300 now serves as the backbone of Breeze’s fleet. Airbus’ newest narrowbody aircraft, the A220 offers excellent economics to airlines, like Breeze, to serve smaller markets or “long-and-thin” routes.

Since launching operations in 2021, Breeze has received industry recognition through numerous accolades including:

• Best Domestic Airlines by Travel + Leisure four years in a row
• Fast Company‘s World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2025 for connecting guests between unserved and underserved city pairs
• Best Seat Comfort and Best Major Airline in North America by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) for its spacious cabin configuration and in-flight service
• 2026 TIME100 Most Influential Companies list of Industry Leaders in Travel & Tourism, which highlighted Breeze’s growth as having an extraordinary impact on the industry

In 2024, Breeze posted its first quarterly profit when it generated more than $200 million in revenue and achieved an operating margin of more than 4 percent in the fourth quarter that year. In a May 26 interview, Neeleman told Fox Business that Breeze was profitable in the first quarter of 2026 and expects a second quarter profit despite increased fuel costs, citing its fuel-efficient Airbus A220 fleet.

Connecting dots

Breeze’s business model has enabled the carrier to successfully add or expand from its initial four markets from Pittsburgh that would likewise be served through one-stop itineraries through hubs by other carriers.

In the Northeast, Breeze operates year-round service to Hartford and Providence, two key destinations for business and leisure travel, and seasonal service to Portland, Maine, a growing leisure destination.

Additionally, Breeze has expanded service between PIT and the Carolinas, serving Charleston, Greenville-Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach and Raleigh-Durham year-round.

Florida, another major market from Pittsburgh, has seen Breeze expand with now year-round service to Fort Myers and Tampa, two former markets served by the now-defunct Spirit Airlines, along with seasonal flights to Jacksonville and its new Vero Beach service starting in October.

Additionally, Breeze has used the A220’s fuel efficiency and its onboard product to add West Coast service to Los Angeles and San Diego, a key region in PIT’s air service strategy. Breeze is one of three carriers, including American Airlines and United Airlines, serving the Pittsburgh-Los Angeles route, and is one of two carriers, along with Southwest, that serves Pittsburgh-San Diego.