In 1969 the airline was founded to serve the Houston area with "cross-town" flights.
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 the
NASA Johnson Space Center. The
Clear Lake City STOLport was essentially Houston Metro's own private airport. The airline's initial route linked Clear Lake City (CLC) with
Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) which opened in 1969. In early 1970, Houston Metro was operating two routes: Clear Lake City - Houston Intercontinental and
Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) - Houston Intercontinental. The February 1, 1970 Houston Metro timetable lists 24 round trip flights every weekday between the CLC
STOLport and Houston Intercontinental and 14 round trip flights every weekday between Houston Hobby and Houston Intercontinental. According to the February 1976 edition of the
Official 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 with
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter twin turboprop
STOL 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 larger
Short 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 $156,510
U.S. dollars in an eight-month period. In early 1974, to capitalize on a perception among Dallas residents that
Dallas Love Field was more convenient than the newly-opened
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Metroflight inaugurated seven-minute Twin Otter flights between Love and DFW. Airfare was only $10 , 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. In 1978 Metro entered the "stand up widebody cabin age" when the first orders for five (5)
Short 330 twin turboprops were announced. These Irish-manufactured aircraft would be used to complement the
Twin Otters already in use on higher demand routes as well as new service to
Lafayette, 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 for
flight attendants and also resulted in the carrier joining the ranks of the
regional 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 operate
American 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 original
Frontier Airlines. These 50 passenger twin turboprops were then used to initiate the first ever
American Eagle service via a new
code sharing passenger feed agreement with
American 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 the
American Eagle brand beginning on November 1, 1984. In 1985 the airline announced that it would end service to Houston Intercontinental Airport (now
George Bush Intercontinental Airport). by Metro Airlines; its aircraft were merged into the operations of wholly owned subsidiary
Metroflight for "the American Eagle codeshare branded banner flying". Chaparral had operated
American Eagle service primarily from
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) on behalf of
American Airlines before being merged into Metroflight in 1990. •
Metro Express also operated as
American Eagle from 1985 through 1987 flying
British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and
Short 330 turboprop aircraft from DFW. Metro Express was then merged in with Chaparral Airlines. •
Metro Express II - spun off from the original Metro Airlines for "the Eastern Express codeshare branded banner flying". This regional airline was based in Atlanta, GA and operated as
Eastern Metro Express flying
British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and
de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100
Dash 8 twin turboprop aircraft. Eastern Metro Express provided passenger feed at the
Eastern Air Lines hub located at
Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL). •
Sunaire - name changed to
Aviation Associates. This commuter air carrier operated as
Eastern Express in the Caribbean flying de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops and providing passenger feed at the
Eastern Air Lines hub located at the
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU). Service was flown to St. Croix (STX), St. Thomas (STT), Tortola, BVI (EIS), Virgin Gorda, BVI (VIJ), Mayaguez, PR (MAZ), and St. Maarten, N.A. (SXM), and other short haul destinations in the Caribbean. The Eastern Express service was primarily operated from San Juan although point-to-point flights between various other islands were flown as well. The Twin Otter was well suited for flights into
Virgin Gorda as the airport runway on this island was an unpaved sand and gravel airstrip at the time. •
Eastern Metro Express - Metro also operated feeder services as Eastern Express for
Eastern Air Lines to and from
Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) during the mid-1980s flying de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops. Destinations served on a nonstop basis from IAH by this Eastern Express service included Beaumont/Port Arthur, TX (BPT); Clear Lake City, TX (CLC), Lake Charles, LA (LCH); Longview, TX (GGG); Sugar Land, TX (SGR); Tyler, TX (TYR); and Victoria, TX (VCT). Metro was also operating Eastern Express service at this time from
San Antonio International Airport (SAT) with service to Laredo, TX (LRD)
Bankruptcy In 1991 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 by
AMR Corporation whom were already involved with Metro Airlines by way of the "banner carrier" codeshare flying that Metro performed for AMR via its
Metroflight division with these services being created cooperatively by the
legacy carrier, being
American Airlines, and the
regional, being Metro subsidiary Metroflight, as
American Eagle during the mid-1980s. Under AMR many of Metroflight's assets found their way over to
Simmons Airlines. Houston Metro's original home, being the
Clear Lake City STOLport located in the Houston area near the
NASA 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, a
regional airline and a regional airline brand; and at that time survivor of the post-deregulation and highly controversial Houston based
Texas Air Corporation Continental Airlines and
Eastern Air Lines acquisition years, operated scheduled passenger air service from
Ellington Field (EFD) near the former site of the Clear Lake City STOLport. Much like the original
Houston Metro, and subsequent
Eastern Metro Express short hop operations by amicable partner
Metro Airlines; short hop Continental Express flights commenced during the 1980s, utilizing
ATR-42 and
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops and then
Embraer 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. ==Destinations==