Pratt & Whitney joined Breeze Airways today in announcing the launch of the carrier’s longest nonstop route ever, an over 2,250 nautical mile Airbus A220 flight between Rhode Island and Los Angeles, powered by GTF engines.
On Wednesday (May 17, 2023), Pratt & Whitney announced that Breeze Airways will launch their longest-ever route, over 2,250 nautical miles between Providence (PVD), Rhode Island and Los Angeles (LAX) with a GTF engine powered Airbus A220-300. The celebration began on Tuesday (May 16th) at a first-ever employee town hall hosted at Pratt & Whitney’s East Hartford, Connecticut Training Center for Breeze Founder and CEO David Neeleman, and Breeze's President, Tom Doxey. The GTF engine is the exclusive powerplant for the Airbus A220 Family, and offers a fuel and CO2 emissions reduction of up to 25 percent, an NOx emission reduction of up to 50 percent, and a 75 percent smaller noise footprint. Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines have also been certified to operate on 50 percent SAF, and have been successfully tested using 100 percent SAF.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Breeze Airways’ Founder and CEO, David Neeleman, said,
“GTF engine technology for the A220 has been foundational to the growth and success of Breeze over the past two years. We've been able to link new city pairs while reducing operating costs and environmental impact.”
Also commenting on the launch of the milestone route, Pratt & Whitney’s President of Commercial Engines, Rick Deurloo, said,
“GTF engines enable airlines like Breeze fly long, thin, transcontinental routes with game-changing aircraft like the A220. The inauguration of service between Providence and Los Angeles marks a major milestone in the airline's rapid growth.”
Founded in 2018 by airline industry entrepreneur David Neeleman, Salt Lake City, Utah-based Breeze Airways launched flight operations in May 2021. The carrier currently operates 12 Airbus A220-300s, with the 13th scheduled for delivery soon. Additionally, the airline currently has 66 more A220-300s on order. Breeze Airways also operates a fleet of Embraer E190 and E195 aircraft, which are each equipped with a Pratt & Whitney APS2300 auxiliary power unit (APU).
A division of Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE: RTX), Pratt & Whitney is a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft and helicopter engines and auxiliary power units (APUs) for commercial, military, regional, business and general aviation aircraft. Pratt & Whitney is known for their innovative technologies such as the Geared Turbofan (GTF) commercial aircraft engine and the PW800 business jet engine.
Source: Pratt & Whitney