Word leaked two years ago that JetBlue’s founder Dave Neeleman had registered a new airline company. That story got waved off, with Neeleman saying it was a false alarm he wasn’t doing a new commercial airline.
However last summer his plans leaked for a startup airline with $100 million and 60 planes. The plan to fly Airbus A220s was supposed to be two years away, but now according to Jon Ostrower he’s ready to start next year using planes being retired by Brazilian carrier Azul.
As Azul takes deliveries of Embraer E195-E2s, the airline expects to rotate the older first generation E-Jets out of the fleet. Under Neeleman’s notional plan, about 30 aircraft would shift to the U.S. for a combination of scheduled and charter operations.
Moxy will then become the launch operation for the A220XLR.
Neeleman founded JetBlue after his non-compete from Southwest’s acquisition of Morris Air, where he was CEO, expired. During that non-compete period he was involved in the launch of Canada’s WestJet.
A citizen of Brazil as well as the U.S., Neeleman launched Brazilian carrier Azul. He’s also a partner in Star Alliance carrier TAP Air Portugal.
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<p>His new U.S. airline, codenamed ‘Moxy’ but without a final name announced, is expected to offer point-to-point service from smaller airports outside of large cities bypassing hubs, using low costs to offer lower fares. By avoiding connections they plan to “get you there twice as fast for half the price.”</p>
<p><UL><LI>Lower cost airports like Providence instead of Boston<br />
<LI>Filling up planes with low fares rather than connections<br />
<LI>They plan to offer free Wifi but no seat back television</ul>
<p>They plan to fly from secondary airports in the New York (Stewart), DC (Baltimore), Chicago (Gary, Indiana), San Francisco (Oakland, San Jose), and LA (Burbank, Ontario, Orange County) areas. They’ll fly to places like Orlando Sanford and St. Petersburg, Florida.</p>
<p>They want to fly to Mesa, Arizona rather than Phoenix, Concord not Charlotte, and Fort Worth Meacham. Even Cleveland would be served via Burke Lakefront Airport.</p>
<p>Now the Airbus A220 is generally considered a passenger-friendly aircraft. It’s new and fuel efficient, and can fly transcons and also short transatlantics from the Northeast. A wider fuselage means seats can also be wider than on other Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies. Older Embraer regional jets being retired by Neeleman’s Azul won’t have those same characteristics.</p>
<p>It appears the plan to get an early start may not yet be finalized, and lacks regulatory approval, so may not yet happen. However bringing more competition to the market sooner (even with a more modest product) has to be positive.</p>
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This is great news! We’re overdue for competition.
@RF – You said it!
Fascinating. Here is a credible person who would have a better shot than most at making it work. Any thoughts on his strategies for route network?
I love it. His plan to fly out of very close-in, but completely underused airports like Meacham, Burke, White Plains, Gary, and others is a huge winner for me.
Sign me up to buy tickets on this.
I’m looking forward to seeing Moxy’s route network, and trust Neeleman is old hand who will pick the right opportunities. The U.S. desperately needs a (good) airline startup that can fly profitably with decent service and low fares. Here’s hoping.
I’m looking forward to seeing how amazing his route network is when every airport manager is willing to give him free parking and landing fees while every other airline that’s been around for 20+ years is paying out the nose. Fuck Neelman and his non-airline.