MetroAir Takes Delivery of First Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
EVERETT, WA – MetroAir Virtual Airlines celebrated its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Monday with a special pre-delivery ceremony at Boeing’s Everett Delivery Center. The 787-8 variant of the Dreamliner is the first of 5 first 787 orders that MetroAir has placed with Boeing. MetroAir also has 5 options and 10 airframes to be leased.
MetroAir will initially deploy the 787-8 on a series of trial flights to Los Angeles, Portland, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Austin, and Fort Lauderdale from their central hub in Kansas City. This trial period will give MetroAir an opportunity for both flight and ground crews to become familiar and get hands-on experience with the aircraft. The 787-8 will be operate on these routes until March 1, at which point they will begin service on their permanently scheduled routes.
While specifics have not been announced beyond the initial Los Angeles-Manchester route, Chief Operating Officer William Hogarth stated “the 787 is expected to make appearances in Mumbai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, and Honolulu”.
The high-profile Dreamliner is part of MetroAir’s broader fleet growth effort, which also includes the recent addition of the Embraer 145 to the regional fleet, and the Airbus A330-300 last Continue reading
Happy 10 Year Anniversary MetroAir Virtual!
A little more than 10 years ago on a cold Michigan morning, founder Mark McCoy had a crazy idea to build a new virtual airline that was focused on realism. The plan was to start the airline off like a new real world airline with a very limited fleet (and cash balance). The airline officially started with 6 Boeing 737-200ADVs and 3 Bombardier Dash 8-Q200s. ”Today is just the beginning” said McCoy on that very first day; his words have never rang so true.
For those of you who like numbers, in the 10 years we’ve had some impressive stats. Keep in mind that we did lose some data at one point so the numbers for all are really a little higher. In the Continue reading
MetroAir Virtual Airlines and Fly UK Virtual Airways Announce Historic Partnership
KANSAS CITY, MO - MetroAir Virtual Airlines and Fly UK Virtual Airways announced today a historic codeshare arrangement. Beginning December 1st, 2014, pilots of each airline will have the opportunity to fly select flights in the partner airline’s route network.
MetroAir pilots will have the ability to fly 30 Fly UK routes using Boeing 737-800, Boeing 767-300, and Boeing 747-400 aircraft from Fly UK’s London Heathrow and Manchester hubs. Fly UK pilots will be able to fly Airbus A319 and Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 aircraft on select routes throughout the United States. Pilots of each airline will not be required to join the roster of the codeshare airline to fly the codeshare flights. However, pilots are encouraged to join each others airlines to experience additional routes and aircraft offerings, as long as minimum flight requirements are met for both airlines. Codeshare flights will be duplicated in each airlines’ database under a reserved codeshare flight number. A complete list of active codeshare flights can be found on the Codeshare tab of each airlines Operations pages. Aircraft models and Continue reading
MetroAir Virtual Announces Los Angeles Int’l (LAX) Will Replace Ontario Hub
LOS ANGELES, CA – MetroAir Virtual Airlines announced Friday their intentions to move their West Coast hub from Ontario International Airport (KONT), to Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX), 40 miles to the west.
Ontario was opened shortly after MetroAir began operation in 2005 and built its role as the airlines’ West Coast hub. As the airline grew, Ontario followed suit, eventually becoming MetroAir’s second busiest airport by number of daily operations. However, Ontario International Airport was built as a reliever airport for LAX, and was never meant to be the hub of a national airline. Due to small terminals and limited international facilities at Ontario, MetroAir shifted all Southern California international operations to LAX in early 2014. MetroAir was welcomed into the LAX market with promising numbers in their new LAX-Shanghai service, as well as favorable results to major domestic markets such as Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Seattle.
Due to the separation of domestic and international operations, connecting passengers were placed on dedicated Allegius “shuttle” flights between Ontario and LAX. As expected, complications of adding another flight to passengers’ itineraries occurred and MetroAir executives Continue reading
MetroAir Announces New International Routes
KANSAS CITY, MO – MetroAir Virtual has released details of how 11 refurbished Boeing 757s will be utilized in the upcoming months. MetroAir Virtual is currently set to begin receiving their 11 new Boeing 757s starting November 1st at a rate of one per week. Initial plans are to deploy the 757-200 aircraft on some existing routes which warrant equipment increases as well as on routes which frequently see weight restrictions due.
MetroAir’s nonstop service to Santiago, Chile from Fort Lauderdale will be downgraded from an Airbus A330-200 to a Boeing 757-200, while Fort Lauderdale to Brasilia, Brazil and Baltimore to Manaus, Brazil will be increased to a Boeing 757-200 from Airbus A319s. Additionally, Chicago to Dublin, Ireland will receive an extra 3x weekly service on a Boeing 757-200, on top of the current daily 757 service.
In line with continuing international expansion over the past year, MetroAir has announced four new routes. MetroAir will begin nonstop service to Zurich and Warsaw from Chicago-O’Hare, as well as nonstop service to London-Heathrow from Boston and MetroAir’s Midwest hub, Kansas City. Flights from Chicago to Zurich and Warsaw, as well as Boston and Kansas City to London-Heathrow, will be operated on Continue reading
MetroAir Virtual Adds Charter Flights to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics
KANSAS CITY, MO – MetroAir Virtual has announced today the addition of a daily charter flight to Sochi, Russia in coincidence with the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. MetroAir will operate an Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Sochi from their eastern hub in Baltimore. These flights will serve as the only direct connection from the United States to Sochi during the Winter Olympics and will provide over 12,000 total available seats.
Sochi International Airport is located 14 miles outside of Sochi (pronounced SO-chee) and is bordered on two sides by mountainous terrain. Approaches into Sochi can only be made from the west, over the Black Sea, and care must be taken in the event of a go around. Similar to Aspen Airport in Colorado, Sochi is a “one way in, one way out” airport, meaning aircraft will be taking off and landing in opposite directions due to the surrounding terrain.
| Flt. Number | Origin | Destination | ETE | Distance (NM) | Departure (Local) | Arrival (Local) |
| 8214 | KBWI | URSS | 660 | 4785 | 1555 | 1145 |
| 8215 | URSS | KBWI | 690 | 4785 | 1240 | 1500 |
Visit MetroAir Virtual online @: http://metroairvirtual.com
MetroAir Virtual Now a VATSIM ATO
KANSAS CITY, MO. – MetroAir Virtual Virtual Airlines announced the airline is an official VATSIM Authorized Training Organization for its pilots during a press conference at the airline’s headquarters here.
MetroAir pilots will now be able to undergo training and certification for the VATSIM pilot ratings, starting with the P1 rating.
“We’re very pleased to be able to offer our pilots this additional training opportunity. A lot of work went into our becoming an authorized training organization and I’d like to thank everyone involved for their hard work reaching this great milestone,” Matt Dissinger, MetroAir’s Chief Technology Officer, said.
The VATSIM P1 rating is the first rating for pilots which requires training and certification and covers being a VATSIM Online Pilot. The rating system ranges from P0, which requires no training, to P9, which requires extensive training. Currently only P1 – P3 ratings are available to VATSIM pilots.
“It’s an exciting time for MetroAir and we hope to offer additional VATSIM certifications in the future,” said Matt Calsada, MetroAir’s Chief Executive Officer.
Pilots interested in joining MetroAir Virtual Airlines can find out more information about the airline and the VATSIM training program at www.metroairvirtual.com.
