RAPID expansion into US eastern markets by low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines and Delta Express has forced US Airways to start its own cheap-fare airline last year.
Michael Scheeringa, vice-president of newly formed MetroJet and US Airways Shuttle, said: “Low-cost carriers were poised to grow rapidly along the East Coast, which is densely populated and where fares are relatively high.
“In the last two years, they have both gained a hold on Eastern US routes by taking leisure traffic away from airlines operating high-cost aircraft. As a result, US Airways was losing $100m a year.”
The airline responded by launching its MetroJet subsidiary in June ’98, operating five Boeing 737-200 aircraft and serving five cities with 34 daily departures.
By the end of ’99 Metrojet will have taken 50 aircraft from the US Airways’ fleet to fly a network of 22 cities with over 200 daily departures.