Breeze Airlines is run by David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue Airways. In May 2021 the airline started operations as a new low-cost carrier prioritizing nonstop flights between underserved routes while providing customers with affordable and convenient air travel options.
If you do a search for the route map of Breeze Airways, you’ll find a multiverse of options. That’s because Breeze is constantly changing the cities it operates from. They add new routes and then remove them almost as quickly.
Breeze Airlines has a decently sized operation at Orlando International Airport (MCO) and services cities that otherwise don’t have a non-stop option from the popular area:
- Akron/Canton
- Charleston (SC)
- Charleston (WV)
- Fayetteville/Bentonville
- Huntsville
- New Orleans
- Portland (ME)
- Providence
- Tulsa
In February 2023, Breeze added a new city to its Orlando destinations; Orange County, CA. John Wayne International Airport (SNA) is located in unincorporated Orange County, California and is closest to the city of Santa Ana. If you’re traveling to Orange County, it’s much more convenient to fly into SNA than it is to fly into LAX and drive the rest of the way.
What made this route interesting was that it was the only non-stop flight between the airports closest to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Dubbed the “Disney Shuttle,” it was the easiest way for people on either coast to fly between the parks. Disney fans and employees both enjoyed the reasonably priced daily flight on an Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
While the route sounds intriguing on paper, there was apparently limited interest in the route over the winter. So Breeze announced there would be a “seasonal pause” in service starting on November 14, with service resuming on February 14, 2024.
However, Breeze has recently notified passengers who purchased tickets that the service between the cities will now end on October 3, 2023.
Now here’s where things get interesting…
Breeze claims the decision is based on a request from Santa Ana’s John Wayne Airport to reduce airport traffic from now until February 2024. I did some searching and I can’t find any kind of statement from the airport asking airlines to cut flights. In addition, I can’t even find evidence of any other airline canceling routes to SNA because of this request.
Frankly, I can’t see how the removal of one Breeze plane a day arriving and departing from the airport would make a big difference in airport traffic at John Wayne Airport. Instead, it seems like an easy excuse to cut a flight that probably wasn’t performing as well as they would have liked.
Breeze will refund tickets for those impacted by the canceled flights between October 3rd and November 14th. This includes a cash refund or returning Breeze Points if that’s how you booked your ticket.
Since there is no other option to fly between Orlando and Orange County, CA, this means passengers will need to book a flight on another carrier either traveling from LAX or with a connecting flight to or from SNA.
What I’m more interested in seeing is if this route comes back in February 2024, as the airline claims it will.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Feature Image: Breeze Airways / Instagram
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.