On September 24, 2001, US Airways announced it was shutting down its successful MetroJet subsidiary in the wake of the attacks of September 11. From a Florida perspective this is significant, because with the shuttering of MetroJet, outside a later attempt to make Fort Lauderdale an international hub, US Airways ceded much of its dominant market position in Florida.

MetroJet is particularly memorable because of the distinguishable red paint scheme though the livery and tail design (outside the top red area) was identical to mainline US Air.

US Airways, had following its merger with Piedmont and the collapse Eastern become the primary player, outside Delta in commercial aviation to and within the Sunshine State in the early 1990’s. In 1993, US Air even launched a Florida Shuttle with hourly service from Miami to Tampa and Orlando as well as frequent service between other Florida cities. US Air served 19 Florida cities in total at the time.

But when Southwest Airlines started service to Florida in January 1996, everything changed for US Air (and Delta). Intra-Florida flying between large cities except Miami (Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville) was now dominated by Southwest, similar to what had happened previously in Texas and California. This left US Air’s network with tier 2 linkups including a large operation from Tallahassee to every major Florida airport, but crippled its core Florida business. At the same time, Southwest had moved aggressively into Baltimore – US Air at the time was the primary airline in the National Capital region with a large hub at Baltimore as well as large operations at Washington’s Dulles and National Airports.

After rebranding as US Airways in 1997 in an attempt to look a more global carrier, the airline launched MetroJet in 1998, a low cost single-class service that would link large east coast cities. The initial focus was fighting Southwest in Baltimore.

The airline featured high-frequency service between major east coast metropolitan areas and lasted from 1998 to 2001. Orlando eventually became a focal point for operations, having the second most MetroJet destinations behind Baltimore from 1999 to 2001. Fort Lauderdale and Tampa also saw frequent MetroJet service, with Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami and West Palm Beach also being served at various times.

MetroJet was a victim of its own success. By focusing on large urban markets, MetroJet which had lower per unit costs than US Airways mainline actually cannibalized passengers from its parent carrier. Since MetroJet gave the same frequent flier benefits US Airways did, it actually hurt the mainline operation. For example, MetroJet’s lower fares from Baltimore and Washington-Dulles attracted US Airways fliers from Washington-National. In reality, the “airline within an airline” did more to undercut its parent than fight Southwest.

So after 9/11, US Airways used its contractual force majeure clause negotiated in the collective bargaining process to shut down MetroJet and reintegrate its services into US Airways.

Here is a sampling of flights offered by MetroJet to/from Florida:

September 1998

Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa to Baltimore

February 1999

Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa to Baltimore

Tampa to Boston

Orlando to Buffalo

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa to Hartford/Springfield

Orlando to Manchester, NH

Orlando to Raleigh/Durham

Orlando to Rochester

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa to Washington-Dulles

November 1999

Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa to Baltimore

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Boston

Orlando to Buffalo

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Hartford/Springfield

Orlando to Manchester, NH

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa to Raleigh/Durham

Orlando to Rochester

Orlando to Syracuse

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa to Washington-Dulles

July 2000

Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa to Baltimore

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Boston

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Hartford/Springfield

Orlando to Manchester, NH

Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to New York-LaGuardia

Orlando to Providence

Orlando to Rochester

Orlando to Syracuse

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa to Washington-Dulles

July 2001

Orlando to Albany, NY

Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Baltimore

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Boston

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to Hartford/Springfield

Orlando to Manchester, NH

Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach to New York-LaGuardia

Orlando to Providence

Orlando to Syracuse

Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa to Washington-Dulles