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| Founded | 1969; 56 years ago (1969) | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | May 1993; 32 years ago (1993-05) | ||||||
| Operating bases | Clear Lake City STOLport Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport | ||||||
| Alliance | American Eagle | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | SeeMetro holding company acquisitions and subsidiaries below | ||||||
| Fleet size | SeeTurboprop fleet below | ||||||
| Destinations | See Destination sections below | ||||||
| Headquarters | Houston,Texas, United States Grapevine, Texas, United States | ||||||
Metro Airlines, originallyHouston Metro Airlines, was acommuter airline that was originally headquartered inHouston,Texas,United States.[1] Metro subsequently moved its headquarters to north Texas. The airline had an operational base located on the grounds ofDallas/Fort Worth International Airport and also had offices on the airport property and inGrapevine, Texas.[2][3][4] Metro evolved into an airlineholdingcompany with the acquisition or creation of a number of different airlines, including as the banner carrier (commercial aviation) operating feeder services forEastern Airlines asEastern Metro Express which was based in Atlanta, GA andMetroflight which operatedAmerican Eagle service from the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1993, and the assets were acquired byAMR Simmons Airlines.
In 1969 the airline was founded to serve the Houston area with "cross-town" flights.[5]Houston Metro Airlines constructed their own 2,500 foot, short take-off and landing (STOL) airstrip along with a passenger terminal building and maintenance hangar adjacent to Clear Lake City, Texas near theNASA Johnson Space Center. TheClear Lake City STOLport was essentially Houston Metro's own private airport. The airline's initial route linked Clear Lake City (CLC) withHouston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) which opened in 1969. In early 1970, Houston Metro was operating two routes: Clear Lake City - Houston Intercontinental andHouston Hobby Airport (HOU) - Houston Intercontinental.[6] The February 1, 1970 Houston Metro timetable lists 24 round trip flights every weekday between the CLCSTOLport and Houston Intercontinental and 14 round trip flights every weekday between Houston Hobby and Houston Intercontinental. According to the February 1976 edition of theOfficial Airline Guide (OAG), the airline was operating 22 roundtrip flights every weekday in its passenger shuttle operation between Clear Lake City and Houston Intercontinental. The route system was later expanded to include a number of destinations in southeast and south Texas with flights to Houston Intercontinental. At one point, the airline also flew between Laredo, TX (LRD) and San Antonio, TX (SAT). All initial Houston Metro service was operated withde Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter twin turbopropSTOL aircraft as the Clear Lake City STOLport was specifically designed for this aircraft. Additional new service was later extended to Lafayette, LA (LFT) and Lake Charles, LA (LCH) with flights to Houston Intercontinental (IAH) with these services being operated with largerShort 330 twin turboprop aircraft. The Short 330 was also utilized by Metro for flights between IAH and Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPT) where one was destroyed by a tornado in 1983 while sitting empty on the airport ramp (see Accidents and incidents below).
In 1972 the airline carried between 90,000 and 100,000 passengers per year. It displayed a profit of $156,510U.S. dollars in an eight-month period.[7]
In early 1974, to capitalize on a perception among Dallas residents thatDallas Love Field was more convenient than the newly-openedDallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Metroflight inaugurated seven-minute Twin Otter flights between Love and DFW. Airfare was only $10 ($63.76 in2024), advertised as less than a typical one-way taxi fare between Dallas and DFW. However, the service proved unprofitable, and it was discontinued in September 1975.[8]
In 1978 Metro entered the "stand up widebody cabin age" when the first orders for five (5)Short 330 twin turboprops were announced.[1] These Irish-manufactured aircraft would be used to complement theTwin Otters already in use on higher demand routes as well as new service toLafayette, LA and Lake Charles, LA and offered far more comfortable seating for passengers. The addition of the 30 passenger Short 330 turboprops required Metro to make provisions forflight attendants and also resulted in the carrier joining the ranks of theregional airline industry via its use of larger aircraft. The company was also independently operating flights from the DFW at this time with DHC-6 Twin Otter and Short 330 aircraft with services to several destinations in east Texas with some of these flights continuing on to or originating from Houston Intercontinental (IAH). These Twin Otter and Short 330 passenger services into DFW were flown by the Metroflight Airlines division which would eventually operateAmerican Eagle flights. Metroflight also independently served several destinations in Oklahoma and north Texas from Dallas/Ft. Worth and Oklahoma City (OKC).
In 1982 Metro purchased fourteen (14)Convair 580 aircraft from the originalFrontier Airlines. These 50 passenger twin turboprops were then used to initiate the first everAmerican Eagle service via a newcode sharing passenger feed agreement withAmerican Airlines. The Convair 580 aircraft were operated by the Metroflight Airlines division which also flew DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft on American Eagle services.
Metro Airlines operated out of DFW via its wholly owned Metroflight division under theAmerican Eagle brand beginning on November 1, 1984. In 1985 the airline announced that it would end service to Houston Intercontinental Airport (nowGeorge Bush Intercontinental Airport).[5]Royale Airlines, a commuter/regional air carrier based in Louisiana, then assumed many of the routes that were previously operated by Metro into Houston. However, in 1987 Royale declared bankruptcy and ceased all scheduled passenger flight operations.
Metro Airlinesspun off itscertificated airline, being Metro Airlines, and formed an airline holding company. Among the commuter and regional air carriers acquired or created byMetro were:
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In 1991[11] Metro went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and then in May 1993 Metro Airlines went completely out of business. The airline assets were promptly purchased and renamed byAMR Corporation whom were already involved with Metro Airlines by way of the "banner carrier" codeshare flying that Metro performed for AMR via itsMetroflight division with these services being created cooperatively by thelegacy carrier, beingAmerican Airlines, and theregional, being Metro subsidiary Metroflight, asAmerican Eagle during the mid-1980s. Under AMR many of Metroflight's assets found their way over toSimmons Airlines.
Houston Metro's original home, being theClear Lake CitySTOLport located in the Houston area near theNASA Johnson Space Center, was abandoned and subsequently demolished in order to make way for suburban development. There is currently no trace of this pioneering airfield to be seen.
In later years,Continental Express, aregional airline and a regional airline brand; and at that time survivor of the post-deregulation and highly controversial Houston basedTexas Air CorporationContinental Airlines andEastern Air Lines acquisition years, operated scheduled passenger air service fromEllington Field (EFD) near the former site of the Clear Lake City STOLport. Much like the originalHouston Metro, and subsequentEastern Metro Express short hop operations by amicable partnerMetro Airlines; short hop Continental Express flights commenced during the 1980s, utilizingATR-42 andEmbraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops and thenEmbraer ERJ-135 regional jets to transport connecting passengers across the city to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). However, this service was finally discontinued as well.
These destinations were served by Houston Metro Airlines during and after its name change toMetro Airlines from its Clear Lake City headquarters, with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops and/or Short 330 turboprops:
These destinations were initially served independently by the Metroflight division with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft:
Metroflight began codeshare services forAmerican Airlines on November 1, 1984 flyingConvair 580 turboprops asAmerican Eagle to the following destinations:
Saab 340 turboprop aircraft and additional destinations were added beginning in late 1987.
These destinations were served with British Aerospace Jetstream 31 and/or Short 330 turboprops:
These destinations were served with British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 turboprops and/or with de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 Dash 8 turboprops:
After the acquisition of the airlines "Sunaire" and the subsequent name change to "Aviation Associates,"de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 250 & 300 turboprops served the following destinations:
Many of these destinations were previously served by Metro Airlines on an independent basis prior to a marketing alliance with Eastern Airlines and were operated with Metro's very own DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft:
Metro was also operating Eastern Express service at this time fromSan Antonio International Airport (SAT) with service to Laredo, TX (LRD)[10]
After the acquisition of the airline "Brockway Air" and its subsequent name change to "Metro Air Northeast," Beech-1900C and Saab-340A commuter aircraft served the following destinations uponTWA'sTWExpress network:
Media related toMetro Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
