Braving Brazil's 'Airline Graveyard'

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"So part of our sell is: 'Why get on a bus and spend 14 hours if you could fly there in two?'"

To keep costs low—which will be key to Azul's success—Neeleman will use some of his JetBlue tricks, such as a simple and straightforward Web site where customers can make reservations. But not all of the innovations he implemented at JetBlue can be imported. Because of the inconsistent quality of the phone lines, for instance, he may not be able to use home-based customer-service agents and is looking into the possibility of a call center.

But Neeleman doesn't want to compete against GOL on cost alone. His goal has always been to make air travel simple and hassle-free. When he founded JetBlue, for instance, he decided to have assigned seating rather than Southwest's free-for-all. "One of the big frustrations I've had when traveling in Brazil is when something comes up it's harder to resolve it, because the people on the front lines don't have authority to make changes," says Neeleman. "We were traveling the other day and arrived at check-in 29 minutes before flight time, but they shut the flight at 30 minutes. The plane was right there, but they wouldn't let us on."

The Man for the Job

One of the challenges Azul faces in convincing travelers to go by air is widespread concern about air safety. There have been some spectacular crashes in Brazil recently, such as the 2006 collision of a GOL Boeing 737-800 and an Embraer Legacy 600 that killed 154 people. Azul can emphasize the state-of-the-art technology and safety features of its Embraer jets in its marketing, but it will have to be subtle: Messages about safety backfire if they end up reminding travelers about the possible dangers. Moreover, there's little Azul can do to improve the country's ancient air traffic control system.

"Brazil has been a graveyard for airlines," says Boyd. "It's a really tough place. You have air traffic control problems. There's a lot of territory to cover. There's less discretionary income that people can use for travel." Still, Boyd says he's cautiously optimistic. "If anyone can do it, Neeleman can."

For his part, Neeleman is focused on building a community of potential passengers through the Web site. With the name chosen, people will now have the chance to vote on Azul's uniforms. Next comes a blog that Neeleman will author. "We just want to get people involved," he says.

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Jessie Scanlon is the senior writer for Innovation & Design on BusinessWeek.com.