📊 Azul Linhas Aéreas

And the Brazilian visionary behind five groundbreaking airlines.

David Neeleman is a case study against a narrative sometimes heard in the business world: that success is more about luck than anything else. That argument falls short against a man who founded five thriving airlines in three different countries.

Neeleman had his first success with Morris Air, which he sold to Southwest Airlines in 1993, only a year after beginning operations. The following year, he created WestJet in Canada, which today employs 12K+ people and flies to 100+ destinations. In 1998, David formed a company now twice the size of WestJet, JetBlue, which did almost $10B in revenues last year. David ended up being booted out of his own company in 2007.

But David wasn't finished taking over the skies. After his successful ventures in the second and third largest countries by land mass, he returned to his birthplace of São Paulo to try his chances in the fifth largest. And so, in December 2008, Azul Linhas Aéreas was born.

This time, Neeleman didn't settle for a portion of a country but went all in to conquer Brazil's entire industry. According to its website, Azul is the sole airline for 80% of its routes and the leader in 100+ Brazilian cities. At a country level, Azul is Latin America's largest airline by fleet size. (LATAM is technically bigger, but only if we add all its segments in different countries).

David Neeleman's success is attributed to a customer-centric philosophy, innovative business models, and intelligent market positioning.

You don't have to spend a jillion dollars on advertising to get your word out. What matters is that customers have a good experience with your product at every single point of contact.

That sounds like a good business leader to us. Neeleman's talent for identifying underserved markets and adaptability across different regions have cemented his reputation as a visionary in the airline industry.

A crucial part of the success of all these ventures in the super low-margin airline industry has been what David calls a "middle ground" of airplanes. As consolidation took place, airplanes grew, leaving an opening for small and medium-sized destinations to be serviced by proportionally sized airplanes at low costs.

Last year, Azul serviced 28M passengers, twice as many as in 2022. It also happened to be the company's most profitable year, largely thanks to lower fuel costs (OK, that part is pure luck).

Neeleman's most recent airline, of which he's currently the CEO, is Breeze Airways, servicing the East Coast of the United States.