[6] His grandfather John Neeleman was born in Utah to Dutch immigrants and owned nine convenience stores.

[8] After leaving Southwest, Neeleman became the CEO of Open Skies, a touch screen reservation and check-in systems company, later acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 1999.

[12] On March 27, 2008, Neeleman officially announced plans to launch a new airline, Azul (Portuguese for "blue"), a domestic carrier in Brazil.

[14][15] In June 2015, the Portuguese Government decided to sell the TAP Air Portugal Group, owner of the national air carrier, TAP Air Portugal, to Atlantic Gateway, a joint venture of venture between Neeleman and Portuguese entrepreneur Humberto Pedrosa; Atlantic Gateway took control of 61% of the capital of the Portuguese carrier, and promised to maintain Portugal as the airline's main hub for a minimum of 30 years.

[citation needed] In June 2018, he announced plans for a new US airline called Breeze Airways for which he raised $100m capital.

][18][19] Neeleman, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served a two-year mission in Brazil when he was 19.

[25][26] His brother, Stephen Neeleman, a general and trauma surgeon,[27] was one of the founders of the American health care company HealthEquity.