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Marking the end of an era, Breeze Airways (MX/MXY) officially retired its final Embraer 190 on September 7th, completing its transition to an all-Airbus fleet. The Brazilian-made regional jets had been foundational to the US carrier since its launch in May 2021. With the departure of the last E190, Breeze achieves a key modernization milestone, consolidating its scheduled operations entirely around the Airbus A220-300.

In 2018, aviation mogul David Neeleman founded a new US carrier under the provisional name Moxy Airways. Ultimately, following a trademark dispute with Marriott’s Moxy hotel chain, the startup was rebranded as Breeze Airways.

Breeze Airways’ business strategy aimed to capture a niche market overlooked by major US network airlines, focusing on a point-to-point network that connects small and medium-sized cities directly while bypassing the country’s congested hubs. Another pillar of its business model is avoiding direct competition—a strategy the airline successfully maintains today, with approximately 90% of its routes remaining entirely unserved by competitors.

The launch of Breeze Airways was immediately met with an unprecedented headwind: COVID-19 pandemic.

These original expansion plans were severely disrupted by the pandemic, as Breeze was still in the pre-launch phase when sweeping global flight restrictions took effect in early 2020. Consequently, because it lacked active operations, Breeze Airways failed to qualify for the federal financial aid programs that sustained many of its established aviation competitors. With no active flights and also no aircraft in its fleet at that time, the viability of the startup—which then employed a lean team of around 50 people—was openly called into question.

Undeterred, the airline pressed ahead with its certification process, securing its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in early 2021 and launching its inaugural scheduled flight on May 27th of that year. To de-risk its initial operations, Breeze opted for a fleet of 100- to 120-seat aircraft, selecting the Embraer 190/195—an airplane its founder knew intimately from his tenures at JetBlue and Azul Linhas Aéreas. However, this Embraer fleet was always envisioned as an interim solution, as the carrier’s long-term strategy remained firmly anchored to the Airbus A220-300.

On February 18th, 2014, the Embraer E195 with serial number 19000660 performed its maiden flight after rolling off the assembly line in São José dos Campos. A month later, registered as PR-AUB, the regional jet was delivered to Azul Linhas Aéreas, where it remained in active service until November 2019. It was subsequently ferried to the United States, spending the following year in storage across various facilities, including Macon, Roswell, and Grissom Air Reserve Base in Peru, Indiana.

Re-registered as N190BZ, the aircraft departed Macon on January 7th, 2021, bound for Islip, marking Breeze Airways’ first delivery flight. At the time, the startup carrier was still navigating the final regulatory hurdles to secure its operational authority, specifically from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT greenlighted the airline’s economic fitness certificate in March 2021, paving the way for the FAA to formally issue its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) on May 14th of that year.

Ticket sales went live on May 21st, 2021, and the airline operated its first-ever flight six days later.

At 10:44 local time on May 27th, 2021, Breeze Airways’ inaugural flight—designated as MX1—departed from Tampa International Airport (TPA/KTPA) bound for Charleston International Airport (CHS/KCHS). Operating with a 100% load factor—and with the airline’s CEO on board—the flight was conducted by the Embraer 195 with registration number N190BZ, marking the establishment of a new airline in the United States.

By then, the airline had three aircraft in its fleet, including two other Embraer 195s, which were assigned the registration numbers N192BZ and N193BZ. In June 2021, the fourth aircraft joined its fleet—its first Embraer 190, registered as N115BZ. Breeze Airways ended the year with 14 aircraft in its fleet, including 10 Embraer 190s, 3 Embraer 195s, and one aircraft that stole the show—its first Airbus A220.

Breeze Airways achieved a historic milestone by adding its state-of-the-art Airbus A220-300. The aircraft was delivered brand-new from the Mobile assembly line on December 17th, 2021, on its delivery flight to Tampa. Configured with a premium-heavy layout of 36 Business Class and 90 Economy Class seats, the next-generation jet officially entered commercial service on May 25th, 2022, operating flight MX236 between Richmond and San Francisco.

This inaugural service represented a defining turning point for the then-one-year-old carrier, marking the debut of its first Airbus aircraft and its very first factory-fresh delivery. For the next four years, Breeze managed dual-fleet operations with both the Embraer E-Jets and the Airbus A220s, before successfully streamlining its scheduled services into a single-type fleet this September.

When Breeze introduced its final Embraer—an E195 registered as N198BZ—in March 2023, the carrier’s Airbus A220-300 fleet had already grown to 11 aircraft. By the end of that year, two key developments were reached by the airline: the A220s officially outnumbered the Embraer regional jets in its fleet, and the phased retirement of the Brazilian aircraft was firmly underway.

At 17:55 local time on September 7th, Breeze Airways’ Embraer 190, registered as N120BZ, made its final touchdown at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport from Orlando on flight MX320. This flight marked the end of the US airline’s operations with the Embraer 190/195, bringing to a close a memorable chapter that lasted nearly six years.

The aircraft, which is 19 years old as of this publication, was Breeze’s sole remaining Embraer in active service, since the previous one (registration N128BZ) had already been withdrawn on August 9th. According to our database, N120BZ currently remains parked in New Orleans, with its final flight to the Louisiana city marking its last operation to date. This means that its last flight was captured on our automated livestream from New Orleans Airport.

Since September 8th, Breeze Airways has operated a fleet consisting entirely of Airbus aircraft, with all 64 units being Airbus A220-300s. Most of these jets feature a two-class Business and Economy cabin layout, while a few others are configured in a single-class setup; these single-class airplanes are the oldest A220s in the fleet, which were not delivered brand-new from the factory.

Breeze Airways has 26 additional aircraft on order, following its initial order for 90 Airbus A220-300s placed in 2018. In addition, the carrier holds purchase options for 30 more A220s, which could eventually expand its fleet to a total of 120 aircraft.

Cover photo: © AviatorCJ – JetPhotos