Posted by Seth on March 27, 2008 under Uncategorized | 
As previously speculated, JetBlue founder David Neelman officially announced his new Brazilian airline today. The yet to be named carrier will start flying in “early 2009″ with 3 Embrear E195 planes and grow from there, with 36 more on order and options on another 20. In addition, Neelman is looking to step down from his role of Chairman at JetBlue, stating that “My attention needs to be here,” referring to Sao Paulo, where the new airline will be headquartered.
Also being covered here and discussed here and here.
Posted by Seth on March 24, 2008 under Uncategorized |
OK…not really, but there is some movement in the Brazilian aviation market, and it is being driven by David Neelman, the founder of JetBlue, so that’s where the connection comes into play. I’m guessing it is just bad translation on some press releases.
There have been rumors swirling for a few months now that Neelman was working on getting a new carrier off the ground in Brazil, taking advantage of his dual-citizenship status to get things moving (Brazil has a citizen ownership limit, similar to the USA). The latest article suggests that he has raised $200MM in funding, has hired executives – including some from the now shuttered flag carrier Varig – and is poised to make an announcement regarding the new company as soon as this Thursday. The airline will operate using ~36 E190 planes, which happen to be made by Embrear, a Brazilian company. Stay tuned…
