Breeze Airways, Vero Beach airport must address these issues after delay exposes problems

I had high hopes and optimism for my first Breeze Airways flight out of Vero Beach.

The convenience and initial low fares were enough to get my family of five to book our spring break trip to Hartford, Connecticut — an area we hadn’t originally considered.

Although the anticipated perks met our expectations, which I detailed in another column, an issue with one flight exposed multiple problems between Breeze Airways and the Vero Beach Municipal Airport that would not happen at a larger airport or with a bigger airline.

Timeline: From Eastern to Elite to Breeze, here's a short history of the Vero Beach airport

The issue led to nine non-weather-related delays totaling more than four hours for our March 18 outbound flight.

The problem and lack of communication led to confusion, frustration, overcrowded waiting areas and even people smoking in the bathroom. After the delays, the airline required everyone in my party — including my 4-year-old — to create a separate Breeze account with an individual email address to receive any compensation for the troubles.

As my 11-year-old daughter, Ryley, put it, our Breeze Airways flight from Vero Beach was anything but a breeze.

It’s not fair to judge the new airline and local airport on a single experience. I support and want to see Breeze and Vero Beach succeed in commercial flights.

But my family’s experience exposed multiple flaws that need to be addressed quickly to make this a better option for local and regional travelers.

Airport size, waiting area

Having flown Elite Airways in 2016, we knew space at the Vero Beach Regional Airport was tight. We sacrificed waiting room comfort for a 10-minute drive to the airport.

Upon arrival, the terminal was packed. Our check-in process took fewer than 5 minutes, but we could barely move around the area because of the number of people waiting.

Passengers told us the earlier flight to Westchester/White Plains, New York, was severely delayed because of issues with the plane. Those passengers, who already went through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, were forced to go back out to the public area and eventually go through security again.

Elite had a 50-seat plane, whereas Breeze's aircraft had nearly three times that many. Two Breeze flights worth of passengers quickly overcrowded the security waiting room and check-in area.

Breeze later confirmed to me the flights were delayed because of “aircraft maintenance” on the earlier flight, adding “Given limited gate availability and issues with crew time, the flight on the aircraft at the gate had to be resolved first before (the Hartford) aircraft could be brought to the gate for boarding.”

That meant up to 264 people crowded the airport. The number of people at a standstill before the security checkpoint seemed like a safety or fire hazard.

Officials tried to ease the overloaded waiting area by only allowing New York-bound passengers through TSA, but that caused even more confusion as standing Connecticut-bound passengers were forced to move out of the way.

Once through security, some disgruntled passengers were so stressed they smoked cigarettes in the bathrooms. Multiple cigarette butts were found in the urinals. Cigarette smoke wafted through the waiting area.

Issue #1 to resolve: Have a contingency plan for multiple flights in a day if one has an issue. The Vero Beach airport is too small to accommodate two of Breeze’s aircraft at the same time. A better plan must be put in place for the passengers to avoid overcrowding and confusion. This could include creating a secure area outside for passengers to stretch their legs, let pets out or even smoke during long delays.

Delays, lack of communication

It was clear early the New York flight was not leaving soon. Instead of delaying our Connecticut flight a few hours, allowing those passengers to leave — and even go home in our case — Breeze texted and emailed incremental delay notices every 30 minutes or so.

Some of the texted delays were sent after the most recent expected departure time.

There were no live announcements or explanations about the delays until the pilot lightened the mood before we boarded. We appreciated his humor, shouting to the tired crowd “We are going to fly it like we stole it” and “I’m going to load these bags myself.” It’s all he could do.

Breeze later confirmed there is no public address system at the airport. Officials said they use a microphone and speaker, “which is not ideal,” but no announcements happened until we boarded at 9:30 p.m.

We finally departed at 10:35 p.m. — 4 1/2 hours after the original departure time.

Issue #2 to resolve: Invest in a public address system and be transparent about delays. Pushing back the departure time every 30 minutes nine times combined with not knowing what was going on beyond rumors spread by passengers compounded everyone’s frustration.

More: Breeze Airways eyes more Vero Beach flights, destinations

Customer service

Breeze is a digitally-focused airline, meaning customers do not have the option to call a representative to get issues resolved. Instead, the only contact options are email, text and message via Meta’s messenger app (used with Facebook and Instagram).

I’m a fan of businesses being tech-savvy until it takes more time over multiple days and weeks to solve an issue.

I give credit to Breeze for proactively offering the equivalent of $50 in its points program to all passengers for the delays on this flight. However, it took 16 emails to get everything figured out for my family because we had three children.

Breeze required email addresses for all passengers, including my 4-year-old. Breeze refused to put my kids’ credits on my account — the same account used to book their original tickets. Instead, I had to create separate Breeze accounts for each family member to receive the credits.

Issue #3 to resolve: There must be a better way to handle certain situations, including offering to discuss and resolve unique situations with a phone call after so many emails.

My takeaway: If you are flexible and patient, flying Breeze from Vero is a great option. If you are on a time crunch or need to be somewhere at a certain time, be wary of this option until these issues are resolved.

Adam L. Neal is the editor and news director of TCPalm.com and Treasure Coast Newspapers, including the Indian River Press Journal, St. Lucie News Tribune and Stuart News. Connect with him at @TCPalmAdamNeal on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Snapchat.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Delay exposes Breeze Airways, Vero Beach airport issues