Breeze Airways cuts 4 routes, shuffles flights in big schedule extension

The big U.S. airlines aren't the only ones making route adjustments due to the pandemic.

The latest network shake-up comes from Breeze Airways – the new airline from serial airline entrepreneur David Neeleman — which is axing four unprofitable routes just months after launching them.

Breeze will exit the following four routes at the end of the month, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by the airline.

When these routes are scrapped, Breeze will continue to serve Oklahoma City and Tulsa from its Tampa base, while service to San Antonio will be available from Bentonville/Northwest Arkansas (XNA).

Separately, the airline will temporarily pull out of the Charleston, South Carolina (CHS), to Hunstville, Alabama (HSV), market on Nov. 28, with flights scheduled to resume on Feb. 17.

While Breeze isn't exiting any other routes, the airline will tweak select frequencies on existing ones, including doubling the number of weekly flights from two to four on the New Orleans (MSY) to Louisville, Kentucky (SDF), route, along with adding a second weekly frequency from Tampa (TPA) to Akron-Canton (CAK), Ohio.

Other notable boosts include two additional weekly frequencies on the following routes in April and May 2022:

• Charleston (CHS)-Akron-Canton (CAK).
• Charleston (CHS)-Hartford/Windsor Locks, Connecticut (BDL).
• Charleston (CHS)-Providence/Warwick, Rhode Island (PVD).

Along with the route adjustments, Breeze also extended its booking window until May 2, 2022, giving flyers more time to plan their spring trips. As for the four cuts, an airline spokesperson told TPG that "as we look to additional routes being planned for 2021, we'll be re-allocating those flights for new opportunities."

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Interestingly, this is the largest network adjustment Breeze has made since it began service in May. The airline has previously trimmed flights and pared its schedule, but the airline hasn't cut nearly as many routes at one time.

In fact, the airline's first permanent route cut was announced in early September, when the airline stopped flying between New Orleans (MSY) and Huntsville, Alabama (HSV). Combined with the temporary suspension of the Charleston-to-Huntsville route, it's likely that the airline is suffering from weak demand in the local market.

Breeze isn't the only new airline that launched this year — there's also Avelo Airlines, based in both Burbank, California, and New Haven, Connecticut, as well as Aha!, the latest venture from longtime operator ExpressJet. Of the three new entrants, Avelo has commanded most of the network-related headlines, having cut multiple cities and routes, some even before service began.

All three airlines are trying to run a low-cost, nimble operation connecting city pairs that might not be top of mind. With a bit of trial and error, some routes inevitably won't stick, leading to the cancellations we've seen from Avelo, and now from Breeze.

While the airlines work to improve their bottom line, the losers are the passengers who are booking far in advance, only to now see their flights changed or even canceled.