New discount airline makes it a breeze to fly from Westchester

What was a schlep is now a breeze.

Unless you own a private jet, the Westchester County Airport is a radically inconvenient option for city dwellers — and its current commercial offerings don’t extend west of Chicago.

But now there’s a fresh reason to go north.

Breeze Airways a new low-fare airline founded by JetBlue’s founder David Neeleman, is debuting at the airport this June with seven nonstop routes.

The airline will introduce nonstop service to Los Angeles; San Francisco; Las Vegas; Charleston, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida; and Savannah, Georgia.

Neeleman says that flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Charleston and Las Vegas will operate daily while the others will run most days of the week.

Breeze Airways is less than a year old and aims to be what Jet Blue was when Neeleman started it in 2000: an enjoyable and affordable way to fly. Better still fares will start at just $39.

Fliers also won’t pay any fees to change or cancel their flights, and they can even do so up to 15 minutes before their scheduled trips. Credits are good for 24 months.

How about the planes themselves? Neeleman says that Breeze has a fleet of six new Airbus220-300 aircraft and another 80 on order. He claims that the airline has the widest cabin, highest ceilings, largest windows and biggest overhead stowage in its class.

There are 126 seats on board including 36 First Class seats and ten extra legroom seats. Breeze is also aiming to be sustainable by using fuel that emits 25% less carbon emissions than the fuel that most airlines rely on.

Breeze’s debut in Westchester comes out of Neeleman’s personal experience.

“I’ve lived near the airport for more than 20 years and was always frustrated that it never had flights across the country,” he said. “I would have to make the schlep to JFK. Breeze is finally going to change that for all the people who live north of the city in Westchester and parts of Connecticut.”