Neeleman's new airline coming to Utah

By Brice Wallace 

The Salt Lake City area has landed the corporate headquarters of an in-development airline company.

Cottonwood Heights will serve as the base for Breeze Aviation, whose yet-to-be named airline is being started by David Neeleman, who co-founded Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue and Azul Brazilian Airlines. The $3.2 million project is expected to result in 369 jobs in the next five years.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

Global travel industry website Skift quoted Neeleman in October 2018 as saying the airline’s base would be in Salt Lake City. The official announcement about Cottonwood Heights followed the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) board approving a tax credit of a little more than $1 million to secure the project.

“We’re excited to announce our investment to make Utah our headquarters,” Neeleman, Breeze Aviation’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Utah’s exceptional workforce and business environment will ensure that we have all the support needed to provide exceptional customer service for our new startup.”

The new jobs are expected to pay an average of $68,000. New wages are projected to total $128.9 million over five years, and new state tax revenue is projected at more than $5.4 million during that period.

Currently with the code name “Moxy,” the airline is expected to be a low-cost carrier with convenient nonstop service from secondary airports within large metro areas and underserved markets.

“Breeze is really exciting because it’s a new aviation company which is going to be able to connect travelers to cities that they normally can’t get to without one or two stops … and in a very cost-effective and comfortable way,” Mel Lavitt, chairman of the GOED board’s incentives committee, told the board at its December meeting. Breeze is looking to establish its headquarters in Utah “and eventually fly out of here,” he said.

“This is a really unique opportunity, to have the headquarters of a regional airline in the state of Utah,” said Tom Wadsworth, GOED associate managing director. “When you think about the number of airlines that are existing in the United States today and where they’re headquartered, it’s a really unique opportunity for us.”

Wadsworth said Utah fits with the company’s strategy.

“Digging into how this airline is going to compete nationally and internationally, they’re focusing in the IT component of the airline business as well as the customer service component of that and really being an airline of the future, and I think with our historical competence in customer service operations but also with our emerging growth in the IT sector, this is a really good fit,” he said.

Bloomberg reported in September that the airline could begin flights as early as next year using planes once used by Azul. Neeleman told Bloomberg at that time that it will be low-cost “but not austere.” Trent Porter, Breeze’s chief financial officer, told the GOED board that the airline will make the travel experience “simple, affordable and convenient” for guests by using “technology, ingenuity and kindness.”

In media reports about Moxy, Neeleman has said that technology will be used for booking, check-in, flight changes, ordering in-flight meals, and accessing in-flight entertainment on passengers’ personal devices.

“As our CEO, David Neeleman, has said on numerous occasions, we’re in the process of building a tech company that happens to fly airplanes, and with the efforts Utah has made to build up the technology industry in the state, we feel that we could benefit in our efforts by being part of the mix,” Porter told the GOED board.

“We believe that the travel industry is ripe for somebody to step in with a good technology solution that makes the travel experience simpler for their customers.”

Neeleman is focusing domestically after spending a few years on international aviation projects, Porter said. “He has a great track record of creating these aviation companies, and really what he’s wanted to do is bring something new to the market here domestically. … To bring something home, specifically to the state of Utah, and to create something and build something similar to what was created and built with JetBlue, is a desire of his “ he said.

Moxy “will be growing quickly,” he added. “We will be looking at developing markets fairly quickly out of the gate. That’s a similar strategy to what was used at JetBlue.”

Mike Johnson, community and economic development director for Cottonwood Heights, said the project “fits our community profile very well.”

“We’ve had great past experience with JetBlue in the city and are just excited to see this technology merging with airline administration to kind of fit nicely into our business portfolio within the city,” Johnson said.

In a prepared statement, Val Hale, GOED’s executive director, said Breeze’s headquarters “will be a welcome addition to Utah’s growing aerospace industry. We’re excited to partner with an experienced team with such an outstanding track record.”

“We have long recognized the potential our regional airports hold for economic growth,” said Theresa A. Foxley, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “We welcome Breeze Aviation to consider service to any of the many great airports that the state of Utah offers.”

Steve Neeleman, a member of the GOED board and David Neeleman’s brother, recused himself during the discussion and vote on the Breeze Aviation incentive.{/mprestriction}