MetroJet

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

MetroJet launched on June 1, 1998, as US Airways’ no-frills, low-fare division—an airline-within-an-airline built to answer Southwest and Delta Express in the Northeast. Its operating base was Baltimore/Washington International Airport, and its opening schedule linked Baltimore with Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale, Manchester, and Providence.

The formula was stripped down and purposeful: one class of service, Boeing 737-200 aircraft, lower fares, and quick turns. MetroJet began with five aircraft and borrowed US Airways’ systems, including Dividend Miles. The onboard cuisine? Beverages and nuts. Glamour had apparently been checked through to another terminal.

Federal transportation reporting identified MetroJet as a US Airways low-fare subsidiary serving northeastern markets by 2000. But the experiment was short-lived. In September 2001, US Airways announced retirement of its Boeing 737-200 fleet in response to the sharp post-September 11 drop in demand; the company said that retirement would end MetroJet service by December 2001. MetroJet was then reintegrated into US Airways.

Our MetroJet collection celebrates the red, gray, and blue shortcut to cheap fares: a brief late-1990s bid to make a legacy airline feel a little more nimble, nut-powered, and defiantly unfussy.