Breeze Airways is doubling down on the Buckeye State: The Salt Lake City-based low-cost carrier on Monday announced Ohio’s Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) will soon become its 11th crew base.
The announcement would seem to set the stage for new nonstop destinations for the airport, which is about an hour south of Cleveland in northeastern Ohio.
“The Akron-Canton community continues to show high demand for Breeze’s premium, convenient service, so establishing a base in the community is a natural fit,” Breeze founder and CEO David Neeleman said in a statement announcing the news.
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No new routes … yet
To be clear, there are no new Breeze routes or destinations to tell you about just yet. Think of this as Breeze putting its staffing and infrastructure in place for a potential expansion down the road.
Past Breeze crew base announcements have been followed by new routes, though, with many of the carrier’s bases serving as minihubs of sorts for a dozen or more nonstop routes.
As part of the new Ohio base, the carrier will bring 61 pilot, flight attendant and maintenance jobs to the region over the next three years — a plan that helped the startup airline secure a tax credit deal with Ohio lawmakers as part of the move.
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A sizable presence at CAK already
Breeze has already maintained a substantial presence at Akron-Canton for close to four years, since the early days of its operations in 2021. Come June, the carrier will serve nine nonstop destinations ranging from the Carolinas to Florida — along with West Coast service to Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as shown on the below map from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
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(Not shown above: Breeze’s nonstop service to Sarasota, Florida, offered during the winter months.)
No airline flew from CAK with as many seats as Breeze in 2024, per Cirium data — though American Airlines offered far more departures (albeit with smaller jets).
Breeze is one of two low-cost carriers serving CAK; Allegiant Air is the other. It’s worth noting, though, that Frontier Airlines has a growing presence some 50 miles to the north at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE).
Bottom line
Breeze expects its Akron-Canton crew base to launch sometime this summer. It’ll mark the latest expansion for the startup airline, which continues to grow its national footprint with new routes, bases and aircraft — namely, its fleet of Airbus A220 jets. The carrier also hopes to announce its first international flights by spring, Neeleman told me in December.
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