PLATTSBURGH — Breeze Airways is pausing its service at Plattsburgh International Airport for the time being.
The airline had been at PBG since November of 2023.
Breeze offered flights to Orlando, Fla. two times a week and seasonal flights to Tampa, Fla.
The Tampa flights were the first of its service to be paused, with the Orlando flights following suit at the end of April.
Airport Director Chris Kreig said Breeze’s decision was unfortunate because the service was well received by the community. He said he is unaware if Breeze will eventually restart its service.
“We don’t have a definitive (timeline) on when they’re coming back and I don’t want to speak out of turn,” he said.
“Obviously, they made a business decision to pause that service. It’s unfortunate, but we understand that that’s their decision.”
AIRLINES ARE BUSINESS
Kreig said there weren’t any reasons given for the pause, but as far as he knows the service was well received by the community since they started flying here.
“(But) I don’t know that the seats or the flights were filling up like they thought they would. Obviously, airlines are business,” he said.
“They want to be able to provide the service, but they also want to be able to maximize their revenue … It’s not the first time where we’ve had certain service pause.”
SEASONALITY COMPONENT
Allegiant Air, the major air service at PBG, also has certain flights that they pause around this time of the year, he said.
For that reason, it’s possible the pause could be temporary as the airport heads into the slow time of the year.
“The Florida destinations, there’s a seasonality component to it,” Kreig said.
“We’re going into the summer months, and historically, our service kind of peaks in the winter months for obvious reasons: everybody wants to get out of the cold … do I consider it unusual that they would pause service based on knowing how the service works here and what it looks like over the course of 12 months? I’m not entirely surprised.”
ALLEGIANT SERVICE
For those who want to head south in the spring and summer, Allegiant is still offering flights to Florida out of Plattsburgh, Kreig said. Allegiant is also adding flights to Myrtle Beach on May 15.
“We’re happy about that,” Kreig said.
“That was service we had with Spirit (Airlines previously) and it was popular … We’ve been talking to Allegiant for a while about resurrecting that service, and so last fall, they let us know that they were going to start that service back up again.”
CONTOUR FLIGHTS
Additionally, PBG’s EAS provider Contour Airlines kicked off its flights to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. on May 1.
Since July of 2022, Contour has been operating at PBG through the federal Essential Air Service program that helps connect smaller airports to larger markets through federal subsidies, offering 12 weekly trips to Philadelphia on a 30-passenger jet with two round trips available five days a week.
The airline operates under the Alternate EAS part of the program, which gives communities more flexibility and creativity in working with a carrier to provide the service.
As previously reported by the Press-Republican, following the Clinton County Legislature’s recommendation over the summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Contour Airlines with the Alternate EAS contract for PBG once again from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2027. The expectation all along was that Contour would eventually make the switch from Philadelphia flights to Washington D.C. in 2025.
Dulles International Airport (IAD) offers passengers an extensive hub experience, facilitating global connectivity through Contour’s interline partner, United Airlines.
The United connection means passengers will be able to book on united.com, get their bags transferred to United flights, check in on united.com and get their boarding passes for both.
“It was a service that was well received by the community,” Kreig said of the previous Dulles flights Plattsburgh offered,” Kreig said.
“Contour was able to work out an agreement with United and we’re excited that they were able to make that switch over.”