After pledging to build a major operations base at Bradley International Airport in 2022, a senior executive at Breeze Airways said the low-cost airline now has hired more than 250 employees and is basing six aircraft at Connecticut’s largest commercial airport, one of its largest operations bases in the country.
“We’re coming up on our fifth year, we’ve grown every year and continue to invest in jobs — permanent team members as well as routes,” Lukas Johnson, Breeze’s chief commercial officer, said, in an interview. “There’s still a lot of potential to go.”
Johnson said Breeze now flies 23 nonstop destinations out of Bradley and 30 destinations, totaling 75 flights a week. In the three months ended March 31, Breeze expects a 20% increase in flights at Bradley, compared with the same period a year ago.
Johnson’s comments came as Breeze announced Wednesday that it will add another nonstop route, twice weekly, to Louisville, KY. The route will be for the summer season, flying Mondays and Fridays, beginning May 29. A promotional fare starting at $49 for a one-way fare is for tickets purchased Jan. 28 through Feb. 3 for travel between May 29 and Sept. 15. Other restrictions and blackout dates may apply.
Salt Lake City-based Breeze inaugurated its first flights from Bradley in 2021 as the start-up airline, launched by aviation entrepreneur and JetBlue founder David Neeleman, offered its first routes to the flying public.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, right, at a news conference in February, 2022 at Bradley International Airport where it was announced Breeze Airways would establish a base of operations at Bradley, creating more than 200 new jobs in the state. (Courant File Photo)
A year later, Breeze said it would establish an operations base at Bradley — its fifth nationwide at that time — given growth in passenger service. Now, Breeze has a total of 11 bases that also include Akron-Canton, Providence, Tampa/Sarasota-Bradenton, Fort Myers, Vero Beach, Orlando, Charleston, Norfolk, Provo, and New Orleans.
The airline’s expansion came with a $1.3 million economic development incentive from the state. The incentive was structured so it would be paid to Breeze if it created and retained 212 full-time jobs. State officials said the incentive was essentially a rebate to Breeze of a percentage of income taxes generated by the new job.
The incentive would kick in only after the new jobs were created and met certain retention requirements. The rebate would stretch over 10 years.
The state Department of Economic and Community Development did not immediately say if the incentive was now active.
The workers hired include pilots, flight attendants, technicians and maintenance workers.
Breeze launched its first international service earlier this month, to Cancun and has plans to add Montego Bay, Jamaica later this year. Service to Montego Bay was pushed back after Jamaica was hit hard last fall by Hurricane Melissa, Johnson said.
Breeze Airways Plane (file photo)
There are no firm plans for adding international flights to Bradley, but they under consideration, Johnson said.
Consistent service from Bradley to Jamaica has long been sought. But the last nonstop to Montego Bay was canceled with Avelo Airlines‘ abrupt decision to withdraw from serving Bradley, citing revenues not covering costs. The Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees Bradley’s operations, disputed those claims.
Avelo, which had expanded to Bradley in late 2024 from its base at Tweed New Haven Airport, flew its last flights from Bradley this week.
Breeze and Avelo, founded about the same time in 2021, quickly emerged as low-cost rivals. Avelo established a beachhead at Tweed New Haven, while Breeze built up its presence at Bradley. In 2024, Avelo expanded to Bradley and Breeze to Tweed New Haven. Breeze now offers nine nonstop destinations out of Tweed.
“We’ve been very committed to Connecticut’s growth and really happy where we’ve been growing the region,” Johnson said. “Obviously our service has been very consistent since operating on day one. We’re feeling really good about our growth structure there.”
When asked about Avelo’s departure from Bradley, Johnson said: “We’re so much larger (at Bradley), it really wasn’t something that was top of mind for us,” Johnson said. “We’re looking to grow and expand to new markets and existing markets as well.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
