David Neeleman is by far one of the most visionary and brilliant airline innovators in aviation history. He was the founder of JetBlue Airways and later on Azul in Brazil. He co-founded Morris Air and West Jet as well. Morris Air was the original charter company which he sold to what is known as Southwest Airlines today. Neeleman is currently the co-owner of TAP Air Portugal. Neeleman was also the creator and innovator of the first  E-Ticket. This leads us to 2019 where he is now embarking on his 5th aviation reinvention tour with an airline tentatively named, “Moxy Airlines” which most likely will change by the launch date sometime in 2021.

This Brazilian born Utah raised entrepreneur has many more tricks up his sleeve with his latest airline. He is a very kind and compassionate CEO who cares as much about his employees as he does about his passengers.  His never-ending commitment to integrity and quality has consistently translated into high-profit margins for his prior airlines. This strong financial track record of success has made it possible for him to have no difficulties in obtaining the financial backing to order 60 new Airbus A220-300s for his 2021 airline launch.

Neeleman claimed he’s not sure he would ever take the new airline public in terms of an initial public offering, citing the high investor interest in the enterprise. He said he doesn’t want to deal with private equity and venture capital investors. Instead, Neeleman said, he’d rather have the airline remain private, generate cash, and share that cash with the airline’s employees. It has always been Neeleman’s goal to, “bring back humanity to air travel.”  This was the same goal for both his passengers and employees. His niche will be providing non-stop point to point service in cities that are underserved and in desperate need of air service.  It will be a super high technology product once again reminiscent of Virgin America which was clearly eclipsed far too soon. VA was created by a fellow beloved aviation visionary genius from across the pond, Sir Richard Branson. Virgin America was loved by its immensely loyal customer base. Alaska bought the airline under false pretenses stating they would merge the unique culture into their own. That was not the case at all. Virgin America was a fierce competitor which was purchased only with the sole intention of having it dismantled and removed from the market place altogether.

His fleet will have a huge competitive edge since the A220 will be able to take off from short runways in smaller underserved airports with an aircraft capable of long haul international service. This also means that the airline could land at remote underserved international airports with shorter runways due to this new aircraft type. The airline would have a range to fly from the middle of the United States to Hawaii or Portugal and Florida to Brazil. This could be a global carrier right from the initial launch connecting three different continents with the United States, Europe, and South America. The new airline would be provided with an immediate established network and feed from his other projects, TAP Portugal and Azul Brazil.

There will be a premium product in the first half of the cabin. Apparently, one that will be giving Norwegian Air Premium and JetBlue Mint a serious run for their money in the low-cost transatlantic market.  Neeleman is stating that his new airline will, “get you there for half the price and twice as fast,”  The initial domestic cities proposed are: Burbank, Fort Worth, Providence, Islip and Trenton-Mercer Airport offering shuttle flights for business passengers with free WiFi and a more flexible, attractive flight schedule, according to the company. The proposed first international cities are Manaus, Brazil and Lisbon, Portugal.

The new airline, in a nutshell, is basically a lot of brilliant concepts all rolled into one new product by the aviation mastermind that is David Neeleman. You have the technology of a Virgin America Cabin, the flatbed premium product of JetBlue Mint, the cost structure of Norwegian Air if not lower, the point to point underserved airport concept of Allegiant Air and the management philosophy of consistent service based upon kindness, compassion and the humane leadership integrity of Southwest with the international reach potential of Delta Airlines. If this airline comes even remotely close to any of these very lofty goals then it will be an airline worth watching and flying.  The airline has one of the most brilliant minds in aviation at the helm. If anyone can get this off the ground then David Neeleman is the man for the job. We will all be waiting with bated breath until 2021 arrives with his latest most anticipated new airline creation.

 

Link: Simple Flying

Link: Business Insider

Link: Conde Nast Traveler

Link: Airways Magazine

Link: Skift

Link: Travel Weekly

 

Aviation Travel Writer: The Flight Times Blog

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