An IPO for Breeze Airways could be on the horizon for 2026, according to CEO David Neeleman.
“I think if by next year, if there’s a rebound in equities, there could be a window for that,” the serial airline entrepreneur said in an interview with Skift.
Breeze’s business model relies on connecting travelers in areas with little to no commercial air service to popular leisure destinations.
The low-cost carrier, which launched in 2021, reported its first profitable quarter in January. Revenues for the airline were up 78% during the fourth quarter compared to the same time in 2023.
“An IPO is certainly under consideration, but we don’t want to put the cart before the horse. For now, our priority is on maintaining a safe, reliable, and profitable operation as we continue our steady growth in new and existing markets,” a spokesperson for Breeze said in a statement to Skift. “After announcing our first full quarter of operating profit in Q4 of 2024, we’re focused on driving toward our first full year of profitability, and so far, everything’s tracking as expected.”
Neeleman said an IPO would depend on market conditions. Airline stocks plummeted this past year after President Donald Trump announced a sweeping set of tariffs that would be imposed on most imports to the U.S. While the stock market overall has rallied back, airlines stocks have lagged.
“A lot of that depends on the market conditions,” Neeleman said. “Airline stocks are pretty cheap right now because of the uncertainty. We’re a discretionary spend. So whenever you go to potential threats of slow down and consumer confidence is down, then airlines are the leading indicators for that.”
Neeleman added that Breeze does not need to raise capital.
“A couple of reasons you need to go public is you need capital,” Neeleman said. “We don’t need that. We’re in good shape from a cash position. And then in the last two quarters, we’ve increased cash. We’re kind of building cash.”
But if Breeze were to go public in the near future, Neeleman said it would be mostly for giving shareholders liquidity.
A Positive Summer for Breeze
For the summer, Neeleman said Breeze is seeing strong demand, even for domestic travel, which multiple airlines have reported is softening. Some airlines have also reported a delay in summer bookings. Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said at an investor conference in May that customers are “waiting to make decisions, including for the summer.”
“It’s strong for us,” Neeleman said. “I think our team has done a really good job of picking routes. We move around seasonally a little bit. So we do more North-South in the wintertime. And then we do East-West in the summer with more concentration in the mid-Atlantic section.”
He added that a lack of competition on most of Breeze’s routes has also helped with summer demand.
“I think the most dire predictions for the summer have been maybe overstated because our bookings are good,” Neeleman said. “We feel really good about how the summer’s materialized.”
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