David Neeleman — 22 Who Made a Difference

David Neeleman — 22 Who Made a Difference

The CEO of Breeze Airways is perhaps the most successful airline executive in flight history -- and Breeze is helping to drive the expansion and growth at Rhode Island International Airport.

Breeze now constitutes more than 25% of the direct flights out of Rhode Island, and that is expected to grow -- and grow significantly -- over the next few years.

Breeze CEO David Neeleman has founded five commercial airlines: Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue Airways, Azul Brazilian Airlines, and Breeze Airways. Along with Humberto Pedrosa and Aigle Azur, he owned 45% of another commercial airline in Europe, TAP Air Portugal.

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He and Breeze are bringing hundreds of jobs to Rhode Island.

Maybe, more importantly, Breeze is bringing significant business and tourism opportunities to the region -- for the first time, Rhode Islanders will be able to fly directly to Los Angeles.

Neeleman is changing Rhode Island’s travel opportunities and, in turn, growing our economy.