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| |||||||
| Founded | June 1, 1998 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | December 2001 (re-integrated into US Airways) | ||||||
| Hubs | Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Dividend Miles | ||||||
| Parent company | US Airways | ||||||
| Headquarters | Crystal City, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||
| Key people | S. Michael Scheeringa (Vice President) | ||||||
MetroJet was a no-frills airline brand operated as a wholly owned division of US Airways from 1998 until 2001.
After the conclusion of painstaking labor negotiations in 1997, US Airways sought to head off burgeoning competition from low-cost carriers in its strongest region, the Northeastern United States. [1] Competitor Southwest Airlines was encroaching from its base in the west as were Delta Express and AirTran Airways from the South. [2] Like them it would offer a single class of service, operate a single type of aircraft, which consisted of the Boeing 737-200, and fly a limited network, based at the airline's Baltimore hub. Like similar projects from traditional carriers, including Continental Lite, Delta Express, and Shuttle by United, it would participate in the parent airline's frequent flyer program and other systems. [3]
MetroJet was launched on June 1, 1998, flying from its base at Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Cleveland, Ohio, Providence, Rhode Island, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Manchester, New Hampshire. [4] It began with five dedicated aircraft, repainted in a distinctive livery with a red and gray fuselage, and the traditional blue tail with the US Airways logo. [3] It was slated for a measured expansion over the next two years that eventually included flights from Washington Dulles International Airport and several point-to-point operations, [5] [6] with an emphasis on connecting Northeastern passengers to destinations in Florida. [7]
MetroJet operations did not improve US Airways's loss-making record. Many of MetroJet's passengers were cannibalized from other US Airways operations, such as its major presence at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Its aircraft were among the oldest and least fuel efficient in US Airways's fleet, and like its parent its labor costs were among the highest in the industry. Meanwhile, it faced cutthroat competition with Southwest, its main competitor at BWI. [8] In an October 28, 2001 interview with Business Travel News, CEO David Siegel revealed that MetroJet's average cost per available seat mile was 8 cents, compared to 6 cents for Southwest and 10 cents for mainline US Airways.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, US Airways was disproportionately affected by Washington National Airport's extended closure. The resulting financial disaster precipitated the closure of the airline's MetroJet network, which led to the closing of the subsidiary's primary operating base at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the furloughing of thousands of employees.
US Airways invoked a force majeure clause in its labor contracts to close the operation, announced on September 24. [9] [10] The airline also largely ended its Baltimore hub, which it had inherited from an earlier merger with Piedmont Airlines. [11] Once the largest carrier there, its number of scheduled flights had fallen by 60 percent by the time the last MetroJet 737 was retired in December.[ citation needed ]
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MetroJet fleet included:
Washington Dulles International Airport is an international airport in Loudoun County and Fairfax County in Northern Virginia, United States, 26 miles (42 km) west of downtown Washington, D.C.
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AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it merged with Southwest Airlines in 2014.
New York Air was a low-cost airline in the United States owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines.
Ted was one of two airline divisional brands of United Airlines. It targeted vacation locations primarily served by the low cost airline market, in contrast to the company's high-end premium transcontinental brand, United p.s.. "Ted" comes from the last three letters in the United brand name. United marketed Ted anthropomorphically and attempted to personify Ted; it used phrases such as Meet Ted or I've Met Ted.
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Midway Airlines was a United States airline based in Morrisville, North Carolina, between Raleigh and Durham. The airline operated between 1993 and 2003.
Presidential Airways was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express Airlines, known as PEOPLExpress a low-cost carrier, with Boeing 737-200 service from Washington Dulles to Boston Logan in Massachusetts commencing October 10 of that year. A small fleet of B737-200 jetliners were initially operated by the airline.
Manchester–Boston Regional Airport, informally referred to as Manchester Airport, is a public use airport 3 miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. It is owned by the City of Manchester, and is in the southern part of the city on the border with Londonderry, New Hampshire.
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The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
