The founder of Jetblue and Azul Airlines, David Neeleman, says he is
ready for the competitors of its new American airline, which will start
flying in 2021. “I’m just going to do things they cannot do,” says
Neeleman, adding that Azul will feed traffic to the new airline, initially
called Moxy. “There are some things that competitors can not do
structurally. Because I own Azul, it can support me in Brazil, doing what
it will never do for anyone else, because I control the company,” Neeleman
points out. He also says the new company will fly hundreds of routes,
most of them without competition. “I doubt we have a single route that has
any competition,” he says. The new airline will fly from the United States to
Europe and South America, avoiding competitors’ hubs. Among the planned
routes, the executive highlights a flight from Florida to cities in northern
Brazil, for example. Neeleman also mentioned that the company could fly to
US destinations such as Scranton, Pennsylvania. The A220-300 that the
airline will use has the ability to take off from short runways and can fly for
11 hours. Jetblue has ordered 60 of these aircraft, which are expected to
arrive in 2020, with an order forecast of another 60 to 2025.
