By GREGORY ZELLER //
Traveling through Long Island MacArthur Airport will be a bit more of a breeze in 2022, when a new airline touches down.
Breeze Airways, founded by JetBlue cofounder David Neeleman, launched in May and already counts 16 different airports among its domestic ports of call. Beginning in February, it will add LIMA to its list, with nonstop service between Islip and Virginia going wheels up Feb. 17, followed by nonstop service to and from South Carolina starting Feb. 18.
Breeze Airways is the fifth carrier founded by Neeleman, who joined Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter, Long Island MacArthur Airport Commissioner Shelley LaRose-Arken and a host of regional business and community leaders Monday to announce the pending arrival of the new LIMA carrier.
The startup airline has actually flown into and out of Islip before: Breeze Airways used LIMA is its operational base when it completed “proving runs” and other requirements leading to its U.S. Department of Transportation Air Carrier Certification, which it earned seven months ago.
David Neeleman: New York state of mind.
That makes February’s part-time service – Breeze will operate four weekly roundtrips between Islip and Norfolk, VA, and two weekly roundtrips between Islip and Charleston, SC – a homecoming of sorts, according to Neeleman, who noted, “It feels so great to be back in New York.”
That was a reference to JetBlue’s base at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens – though returning to LIMA is a prime example of Breeze Airways’ master flight plan, Neeleman noted.
“Breeze’s model is to add new nonstop service on routes other airlines don’t fly, connecting cities with a short nonstop that otherwise would require a long drive or a change of planes,” the entrepreneur said. “We see a lot of opportunity at Long Island MacArthur and I look forward to adding more routes.”
The new carrier is at least a partial answer to the prayers of many regional stakeholders who have pushed hard for additional flights into and out of the Town of Islip-owned airport – so “Breeze Airways holds a special place in our hearts,” according to Carpenter, who noted LIMA officials have “been watching Breeze carefully since David Neeleman first visualized the carrier.”
“We had the opportunity to show Breeze Long Island hospitality during the U.S. Department of Transportation Air Carrier Certification process,” Carpenter said Monday. “We believe our professionalism, perseverance and community support helped showcase our area, bringing this exciting new service to fruition.
“MacArthur Airport produces thousands of skilled jobs for Long Island and is an economic engine for our region,” Carpenter added. “Breeze is a great win for our airport and our community.”
Breeze Airways – which operates 108-seat, twin-engine Embraer 190 passenger jets – will join Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Frontier Airlines as LIMA’s primary commercial carriers. The Long Island MacArthur Airport routes are among several new airports and routes the startup announced Monday, including new destinations in Florida and Ohio.
Among those trumpeting its Islip arrival were Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone – who called Neeleman’s choice of LIMA as Breeze Airways’ first New York airport “a testament to the renowned service and professionalism of MacArthur Airport” – and Joe Campolo, managing partner at Ronkonkoma-based law firm Campolo, Middleton & McCormick.
Co-pilots: Neeleman and Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter are both excited about Breeze Airways’ first official New York airport.
The firm joined with Islip and the HIA-LI to conduct the recent Fly Islip Survey, which made clear the regional business community’s desire for additional flights into and out of the Islip aerodrome.
“Long Island MacArthur Airport and HIA-LI partnered to highlight air travel opportunities for a next-generation air carrier to capitalize and demonstrate how the marketplace could be a huge success,” Campolo said Monday. “Our recent Air Travel Survey validated that fact.”
United States Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also welcomed Breeze Airways to LIMA’s tarmacs and invoked the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package – which was signed into law by President Joe Biden last month and includes $21.5 million for LIMA improvements – as further proof that “Long Island MacArthur Airport is taking off.”
“There will now be a new carrier with nonstop flights to new destinations, increasing travel options for Long Islanders,” Schumer said in a statement. “This is a great development for Islip, Suffolk County and all of Long Island.”
