Breeze Airways Gets Half a Million Dollars to Start Air Service in Pittsburgh
Aug. 10—Breeze Airways is receiving about $560,000 in incentives to fly to four cities from Pittsburgh International Airport.
It marks the latest subsidy deal offered by the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates the Findlay airport, in its efforts to attract more flights to the region.
Breeze started service from the airport to Charleston, S.C.; Hartford, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; and Norfolk, Va., last month.
The new airline, based in Salt Lake City, just received the first $140,000 of the half-million dollar subsidy under its arrangement with the authority.
Breeze gets a quarter of the subsidy 30 days after launching each of its flights. The first to Charleston started July 8, meaning the authority just made the first incentive payment.
The carrier will get the rest of the payments by the end of August for the flights to Hartford, Providence and Norfolk because two started July 29 and the other July 30.
According to the authority, the $560,000 incentive package, signed last month but just released, includes all reimbursable marketing funds for the four markets.
Breeze already has run into some turbulence with its takeoff both here in Pittsburgh and elsewhere.
It already has cut the Charleston and Norfolk flights from Pittsburgh from four days a week to two. The Hartford and Providence service remains at four days a week, according to the authority.
Breeze also has trimmed service in other cities, including Louisville, Richmond, Columbus and Huntsville, Ala. Overall, it has cut back on 33% of its routes systemwide from four times a week to two, according to the Charleston Business Journal.
Gareth Edmondson-Jones, a Breeze spokesman, said the catalyst for the Pittsburgh cuts was "a delayed addition of an aircraft into service." For now, Breeze plans to keep the Charleston and Norfolk flights at twice weekly "to optimize operational performance on our overall schedule."
"As you know, Breeze started operations only a couple of months ago so we have a lot of growth to come but we don't have a date yet as to when those flights will return to 4x weekly," he said in an email.
The Pittsburgh incentives are lower or in line with what some of the other markets where Breeze has started service are offering, said Bob Kerlik, authority spokesman.
For example, in New Orleans, a Breeze base of operations, the state is providing a $2.3 million performance-based grant over 10 years and tax breaks on its jobs and training programs.
In Charleston, another base of operations, the airline is paying no landing or facility fees to start and is receiving state development tax credits for the nearly 175 jobs it is expected to create at the airport over the next five years. Explore Charleston is providing $500,000 in advertising support.
The Pittsburgh flights, Mr. Kerlik said, could generate $39 million a year in direct, indirect and induced economic impact, based on an airport economic model developed by a third party.
"We're thrilled to add a new carrier and four destinations that will have a combined $39 million annual impact in our region. Breeze's arrival highlights the strength in our market, and we see a lot of opportunities for them to grow and succeed here," said Bryan Dietz, the authority's senior vice president, air service and commercial development.
Breeze incentives are on the lower end of what the authority has paid to other airlines to start service in Pittsburgh.
The subsidies have not always panned out, with some airlines suspending or eliminating flights after receiving them.
British Airways received $3 million in incentives to start a nonstop flight to London's Heathrow Airport in 2019, only to suspend it last year because of the pandemic. It has yet to restart.
The same goes for Condor Airlines. Its seasonal flight to Frankfurt, Germany, also was grounded by COVID-19. It received $500,000 in incentives.
In 2017, the authority paid $800,000 to Wow Air to start a nonstop to Reykjavik, Iceland, only to see it end in 2019. It sought to recover $187,500 from the airline.
The authority also has been trying to get back $763,000 of $1 million in subsidies it paid to bankrupt regional business carrier OneJet, which stopped flying from Pittsburgh in 2018.
Mark Belko: [email protected] or 412-263-1262.
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