Over five years on, Breeze Airways is still keeping it Nice

Five years can change an airline. They certainly changed Breeze Airways.

I should know. On May 27, 2021, I was aboard Breeze Flight 1, the airline’s inaugural scheduled passenger flight from Tampa to Charleston. It was an unusual moment to launch an airline.

We were smack in the middle of COVID. Face masks were mandatory. There was no premium cabin, no Wi-Fi, and no Airbus A220 waiting at the gate.

Breeze launch celebration at the airport.

Instead, Breeze made its debut aboard a second-hand Embraer E190 acquired from Azul, offering little more than a bottle of water and a bag of Utz potato chips to mark the occasion.

And of course, a cake. There’s always cake… even during COVID. I was a lot heavier back then; it must’ve been the cake.

A celebratory cake to mark Breeze's debut flight.

Even then, though, it was obvious those Embraer E-Jets were never meant to be the future of Breeze, just a bridge.

Breeze E-Jets at their inaugural.

Founded by JetBlue creator David Neeleman, Breeze had always envisioned the Airbus A220 as the airline’s future. The Embraer fleet simply allowed scheduled service to begin while Airbus ramped up deliveries.

I happened to be there for another milestone, too. In October 2021, I joined Breeze in Mobile, Alabama, as the airline unveiled its very first A220-300.

Breeze Airbus A220 at the gate.

Looking around the cabin that day, it was easy to see that this was the airplane Breeze wanted passengers to associate with its “Seriously Nice” brand.

Looking down the length of the A220

The roomy cabin, oversized windows, mood lighting, and premium seating felt worlds apart from the stopgap E-Jets I’d flown just a few months earlier.

Ascent premium seats up front

Shortly thereafter, Breeze accepted its first A220-300 in December 2021. By May 25, 2022, the type entered commercial service, introducing Breeze’s “Nicest” cabin up front, onboard Wi-Fi, and a significantly more polished onboard experience.

By the end of 2024, scheduled passenger flying had become an all-A220 operation, with the Embraers moving primarily into charter service, and Breeze identifying as a ‘premium leisure‘ carrier.

Breeze A220

Fast forward to today and Breeze has grown into a very different airline. What began with 13 used Embraer E190s and E195s serving 16 cities has evolved into a network of more than 90 destinations operated almost entirely by more than 56 Airbus A220-300s. Another 34 aircraft remain on firm order, with options for even more.

Oddly enough, despite following Breeze’s journey from the very beginning, I hadn’t actually flown the airline since that inaugural day in Tampa. Finally, this summer I got the chance to give it a go!

That also meant that this wasn’t simply another Airbus A220 review. It was my first opportunity to see whether Breeze had lived up the hype and become the airline that CEO David Neeleman promised back in 2021. Given my history with the JetBlue founder’s early years, I had a healthy dose of optimism. If Breeze’s “Seriously Nice” slogan was more than clever marketing, this Nose to Tail reporter was about to find out.

Booking on Breeze’s website is straightforward. I selected a BreezeThru itinerary from Cincinnati to Fort Lauderdale via Greenville Spartanburg. Rather than changing aircraft en route, BreezeThru allows passengers continuing beyond an intermediate stop to remain onboard while local passengers deplane and a new group boards before the flight continues to its final destination.

For full disclosure, Breeze provided me with a Nicest upgrade to its Ascent-branded first class for the journey. Since this is a two-part Nose to Tail trip report, however, I intentionally downgraded myself to the standard Nice cabin for the first segment to Greenville Spartanburg so I could properly review Breeze’s entry-level product before moving forward into Nicest for the second leg to Fort Lauderdale. I did take advantage of the priority boarding privilege to photograph the premium cabin before returning to my assigned seat in economy.

Like most airlines today, Breeze uses straightforward fare segmentation with four basic buckets. At the bottom sits No Flex, essentially the airline’s version of Basic Economy. Above that are Nice, Nicer, and Nicest.

I selected the Nice bundle, which includes a carry-on bag, Zone 2 boarding, permissible flight changes, a full reusable credit if cancelled at least an hour before departure, and double BreezePoints. Advanced seat assignments, Viasat-powered inflight Wi-Fi, snacks and beverages, and checked bags remain optional extras.

Nicer builds on that with an extra three inches of legroom, Zone 1 boarding, complimentary Wi-Fi, one checked bag, and complimentary snacks and nonalcoholic beverages. At the top of the ladder sits Nicest, featuring Breeze Ascent First Class, two checked bags, BreezeBy boarding, complimentary onboard catering, and the airline’s most premium experience, which we’ll explore in Part Two.

The Breeze app handled check in well enough, although it never generated a boarding pass compatible with Apple Wallet. In fact, it didn’t produce one at all on my first attempt, prompting me to take a screenshot just in case.

Throughout the day, I also found myself repeatedly signing back into the app whenever I switched screens, a minor annoyance that became increasingly noticeable. The Breeze app, though adequate, is hardly the mind-blowing ‘SuperApp’ experience hyped in the early days.

Arriving early at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, there was no wait at the Breeze counter. There’s no dedicated priority check-in lane, but at that hour one wasn’t necessary.

Breeze contracts its ground handling to a third party, with the same customer service agents also looking after Allegiant and several other airlines using the airport’s common-use ticket counters and gates. Breeze has long talked about becoming as “people less” on the ground as possible, but I still appreciated having actual people available when needed.

Boarding begins with BreezeBy customers including Nicest passengers as well as Breeze Easy Visa card holders, followed by Zones 1 through 5.

My Nice bundle placed me in Zone 2, though I boarded with the first group to photograph the aircraft before returning to my assigned seat.

Our Airbus A220 had only just arrived from Portland, Maine. Several passengers remained seated, continuing to Greenville Spartanburg airport and Fort Lauderdale on a BreezeThru itinerary.

Carry on in the overhead bin

Almost as soon as the last Cincinnati passenger stepped off, boarding began. The turnaround was remarkably quick, underscoring just how focused Breeze is on aircraft utilization.

Watching one group of passengers remain onboard while another filed onto the aircraft felt like a throwback or being on Southwest.

Breeze A220 interior By the time I reached seat 21A, the cabin was nearly full, and it was finally time to see how Breeze’s Nice product stacked up aboard one of the most passenger-pleasing narrowbodies in the sky.

My window seat was on the left side of the cabin, one of the A220’s seat pairs and, in my opinion, the better side of the airplane.

One of the A220’s enduring selling points is its 2-3 layout, eliminating a third of the middle seats compared with a traditional six-abreast narrowbody.

It reminds me a bit of the much-missed MD-80… long live the Mad Dog!

Breeze 'Nice' economy class seat.

Breeze’s current 137-seat A220 configuration is divided into three distinct cabins: 12 Nicest seats up front, followed by 45 Nicer extra legroom seats and 80 standard Nice seats. The branding is subtle but effective. My yellow-trimmed headrest identified a Nice seat, while the Nicer section just ahead is distinguished by bright red headrest piping.

The hard product throughout the economy cabin is Safran’s Z110i slimline seat, for which Breeze was the launch customer. Both Nice and Nicer measure a generous 18 inches in width, with the difference coming in pitch. Nice offers 30 inches, while Nicer stretches that to 33 inches.

My seat felt firm, but supportive, with enough legroom that I never felt cramped during the short hop to Greenville Spartanburg.

The A220 continues to be one of the most inviting cabins in commercial aviation. The tall ceilings, oversized windows, and subtle mood lighting give the aircraft widebody passenger appeal. Seated behind the wing, you’re reminded just how long the A220-300 really is.

The tray table is larger than those found on most ultra-low cost carriers and came within an inch or two of accommodating my iPad.

A built in device holder makes ‘bring your own entertainment’ far easier than balancing a tablet against the seatback in front of you.

Every seat is equipped with both USB-A and 60W USB-C charging, though AC power is reserved for the front of the cabin.

Right on cue, Breeze demonstrated why it has developed a reputation for operational discipline. We pushed back ten minutes ahead of schedule, although a short wait for traffic meant we ultimately departed Cincinnati five minutes after our scheduled departure time. Looking across the airfield, I was reminded of how quiet CVG still feels decades after Delta dismantled its hub.

Behind the wing, the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines were remarkably subdued, registering just 82 decibels on my sound meter during the takeoff roll. Their long-term durability challenges have been well documented, but there’s no denying their combination of quiet operation and impressive performance.

Rotation came quickly and almost silently as we climbed away from Cincinnati.

For such a short sector, I decided to save Breeze’s Wi-Fi for the longer second leg. Connectivity is complimentary for Nicer and Nicest passengers, Breeze Easy Visa cardholders, and select loyalty members.

Everyone else can purchase access for $8 or 800 BreezePoints, while free messaging is available to all after watching a brief ad.

Breeze’s portal also offers a reasonable catalog of complimentary streaming movies and television shows on your own device, along with a moving map displaying our speed, altitude, and distance remaining. Oddly, the map never displayed any route.

Basic moving map on Breeze One small frustration remained from earlier in the day: every time I switched away from the Breeze app, I found myself signing in all over again.

Three cheerful flight attendants looked after our cabin. At just 1 hour and 7 minutes scheduled, with only 46 minutes spent in the air cruising at 27,000 feet, service was intentionally abbreviated.

Flight attendants made a single pass through the cabin with complimentary water, Peet’s Coffee, and black or green tea. Soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, juices, and snacks are available for purchase, though passengers booked into higher bundles receive additional inclusions.

I couldn’t resist trying the Himalayan Pink Popcorn, and one particularly friendly flight attendant was happy to gift me a bag when I asked if I could purchase one? Now, that’s nice!

Before landing, the lead flight attendant reminded passengers that Breeze prides itself on offering low fares while operating one of the industry’s most punctual airlines so she also gently asked everyone to help prepare the cabin and leave the cabin clean, noting that the cabin crew also serves as the cleaning crew between flights.

Soon we were on the ground in Greenville Spartanburg. As promised, BreezeThru passengers were asked to remain seated while local travelers deplaned. Only after the aft flight attendant walked forward and completed a manual passenger count were we invited to stand, stretch our legs, and watch a new group of passengers board around us.

For me, though, the real reason for stopping in Greenville wasn’t the airport. It was an opportunity to move to the pointy end of the airplane.

In Part Two, I’ll trade my yellow headrest for Breeze’s Ascent First Class suite and find out whether the airline’s “Nicest” product lives up to its name.

Nice, I can confirm, certainly delivers.

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