Houston Metro Airlines (NASA Commuter Airline)

Houston, Texas based, Houston Metro Airlines was founded by J.I. Seaborn in 1966 and started operations in 1967, to provide service in support of the new Johnson Space Center, and shuttling passengers from Houston Intercontinental Airport. The airline established its own commuter “STOLport” in Clear Lake City, Texas just minutes from NASA facilities. Flights started in Jun1969, between Houston Intercontinental and Clear Lake using the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter. Within a few years, the airline added flights from Clear Lake to Houston Hobby, and “shuttle” service between Houston Intercontinental and Houston Hobby airports. Expansion from Dallas-Ft. Worth took place in 1974, with an extension of services operated under new subsidiary Metroflight Airlines. By 1980, the airline was operating to twenty cities across Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma with over 200 daily passenger flights using both the DHC-6 Twin Otter and Shorts 330 turboprop. Based on its passenger load factors and routes, Metro Airlines had become one of the top five commuter airlines operating in the United States. With such a larger route structure, especially in the Texas region, Metro Airlines became an excellent experiment in major airline commuter partnerships, and in November 1984, was the first airline to provide commuter service under American Airlines newly established American Eagle brand

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