Three years after launching perfectly nice budget service to underserved markets with a cluster of leased all-economy Embraer E-Jets, Breeze Airways’ metamorphosis to a ‘premium leisure low-cost carrier’ is almost complete, with the airline revealing that all scheduled services will be operated with its two-class Airbus A220-300 fleet by the end of the summer — months ahead of plan.

Moreover, nearly all of Breeze’s in-service A220s have been retrofitted with Viasat high-speed connectivity, and the carrier is now taking delivery of new twinjets with the Viasat system already line-fitted at the factory. In addition to Wi-Fi being offered for free as part of its Nicer and Nicest product bundles, the new Breeze Easy™ Visa credit card, launched by the carrier in March, enables users to avail of free Wi-Fi on every flight.

During a Viasat-hosted catamaran tour around San Diego to celebrate the successful Viasat-Breeze collaboration, Breeze vice president of marketing and communications Angela Vargo revealed details about the carrier’s all-A220 scheduled fleet plan to The Coalition Radio Network, a Providence-based media title that welcomes Breeze’s decision to serve the city with a variety of nonstops, seasonal routes, and ‘BreezeThru’ one-stop/no plane change services linking Rhode Island’s capital with Los Angeles and San Diego.

“We do have, I think, about 24 A220s right now. We have another 70 coming and they are going to be all scheduled service by the end of the summer. So, we will be a full A220 fleet,” said Vargo. Noting that Breeze always wanted to move towards a ‘premium leisure low-cost carrier’ model since its inception, Vargo told The Coalition Radio Network that:

There is nothing like that really out there in the market. And what we found is that not only do people want to get affordable nonstop flights, but they also want that elevated experience.

So, by being able to fly in this beautiful A220 aircraft with beautiful seats, first class seating and then you add onto it Viasat high-speed Wi-Fi, you really have an experience unlike anything out there.

Passengers seem to agree. Flying Breeze roundtrip between Pittsburgh (PIT) and San Diego (SAN) as a guest of the airline, your author spoke to fellow passengers on board the A220 and at the gate. “I’m trying to avoid the Boeing 737 MAX so it’s nice to know that Breeze flies Airbus,” one man confided to Runway Girl Network.

“Nobody else offers this kind of service: low-cost, non-stop and first class,” a female passenger told RGN as we deplaned at PIT. Southwest Airlines’ inflight Wi-Fi service “is not like this”, a passenger said. And I can confirm that the up front cabin was completely sold out on both Breeze flights.

Breeze remains primarily focused on serving leisure travelers from secondary airports and under-served markets that have been largely abandoned by the bigger carriers — cities like Providence, Charleston, Richmond, Norfolk and Akron-Canton, said Vargo.

The airline’s up front product reflects that leisure distinction. To wit, whilst Breeze offers Ascent-branded recliners and free snacks & beverages to customers of its Nicest bundle, it lacks a proper inflight dining service. On SAN-PIT your author bought two snack boxes to compensate for the lack of meals (no doubt a nice revenue-generator for the airline.) And the pivoting overhead bin of the original A220 design could use a touch more room for rollaboards.

One might argue that virtually everyone is a ‘business traveler’ these days, given massive gig-economy growth in the United States. Even stay-at-home parents have various side hustles including via e-marketplaces. That’s a powerful incentive to always be connected, including in-flight.

But Breeze can nonetheless also expect to attract some ‘classic’ business travelers, lured not only by the carrier’s seasonal growth on east-west routes and its recliners, but also by the free Wi-Fi offered in the extra-legroom Nicer and recliner-based Nicest product bundles, as well as anyone who has adopted the new Breeze Easy™ Visa credit card.

“And now by just applying on board the aircraft, you get free Wi-Fi for that flight too,” Breeze director of product development & innovation Kyle Smith told Runway Girl Network during a tour of Viasat’s 23-acre Carlsbad campus, where members of the media joined Breeze and Viasat to learn more about their partnership, including a groundbreaking new app integration that supports frictionless Wi-Fi access on board.

For folks who don’t buy a bundle or use the Breeze credit card, noted Smith to RGN, “it’s $8 or 800 Breeze points. We accept both card or points payment for those and it’s ‘all of your devices and everybody on your reservation’ so it’s not a per-device, per-person [scheme] for those that do pay. So, we think that’s a really unique value proposition. It’s really reasonable for a family flying.”

Remarkably, in terms of destinations served, Breeze is already the number one carrier in over 11 markets. Rhode Island is a good “case study” in how this whole thing works, Vargo told The Coalition Radio Network, as it represents “the perfect partnership” between an airport, the state, and the airline.

We’re also told to expect some exciting news this week about yet another new route.

Breeze Airways, Visit Carlsbad, The Cassara Hotel in Carlsbad, and The Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa in San Diego, facilitated some travel expenses and all lodging, respectively, for RGN to attend the tour of Viasat’s facility via Ascent on the A220 flying PIT-SAN roundtrip. As ever, all opinions are the author’s own.