They cease all ops tonight at midnight.

http://www.greatlakesav.com/

Too bad.......

In grad school I did a research paper on the economics of the commercial airline industry. It is a very tough business.

Hmmm, that's one I've never actually heard of.

Let's be honest. This isn't a bad thing.

The writing was on the wall when they tried to skate around the need for ATP qualified pilots by reducing to Part 135 and removing seats on the aircraft, and the only reason they ever managed to stay in business was subsidized funding as an essential air service (EAS) provider.

Whelp,

Good thing we didn’t end up there...

quote:

Originally posted by Merldizzle:
Whelp,

Good thing we didn’t end up there...

Yes sir.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
In grad school I did a research paper on the economics of the commercial airline industry. It is a very tough business.

How to become a millionaire:

1. Acquire $20M
2. Buy an airline
3. Wait two years.

Congrats, you are now a millionaire.

Quite a few years ago I trained one of our SIGforum members for the Instrument Rating. He subsequently built a lot of time, much of it instructing, and he went on to airline jobs.

Last I heard he was flying 757 / 767s, but his first job was Beech 1900s, and I'm pretty sure that it was with Great Lakes.

Interesting name for an airline that goes nowhere near a Great Lake..... Route Map

Well, I guess I should have said, "Interesting name for an ex-airline that went nowhere near a Great Lake" given they've ceased operations.

Well shit. My wife has relatives in and around Pierre, SD. Great lakes was the only option from Denver. The 8 hour drive sucks.

I wondered how I could live my whole life in Michigan and not have heard of Great Lakes Airlines. Then I saw there route map. That name was some great marketing.
Rod

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
Interesting name for an airline that goes nowhere near a Great Lake..... Route Map

I haven’t needed Great Lakes for awhile now, but I can see the airports they serviced had already been greatly diminished. Options for people who don’t live in proximity to a major airport are rapidly approaching—zero. That’s too bad.

I will admit that on at least one occasion, I was literally the ONLY passenger on the plane. This would have been on a 19 place, turboprop model, probably a Bombardier Dash 8. Cockpit door was open and the three of us visited throughout the flight. Another reason the flight was memorable—the nastiest crosswind I’ve ever experienced at the airport in Lamar, Colorado. The pilot handled it beautifully.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Options for people who don’t live in proximity to a major airport are rapidly approaching—zero. That’s too bad.

I believe GL was the only airline to fly into Pierre.

Hopefully another carrier will fill the void.

They are listed as the only airline to fly direct into our tiny airport, just a couple flights daily from a couple cities ( Denver and LA if memory serves) otherwise is a 90 minutes drive to the “regular” airport. Wonder if some other commuter type line will take its place

Boutique Air may step up.

I have been at a number of locations over the years where Great Lakes has been removed from service, due to unreliability.

They were one of the lowest paying, if not the lowest paying airlines in the country, with pilot wages below the poverty level.

When experience requirements were raised for pilots operating in airline operations a few years ago, Great Lakes responded by changing their legal status to a charter operation, and removed seats from their aircraft. With less than 10 passenger seats, they tried to skate the regulation requiring a second crew member and an airline transport pilot certificate, and continued operating. While other commuter and regional operations have been increasing wages, adding equipment for safety, and improving their operation, GLA was always a race to the bottom.

quote:

Originally posted by sig sailor:
I wondered how I could live my whole life in Michigan and not have heard of Great Lakes Airlines. Then I saw there route map. That name was some great marketing.
Rod

I'm with you. I was wondering the same thing until I saw the map.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
In grad school I did a research paper on the economics of the commercial airline industry. It is a very tough business.

I used to own a piece of Midway Airlines.
It was a painful lesson.

Then I heard a great piece of advice:
If it flys, floats or f***s, rent it!

A pretty good run for sure.



1977
Great Lakes Aviation traces its success back to April 15th with the creation of Spirit Lake Airways. Found by Doug Voss and Ivan Simpson in Spirit Lake, Iowa, the company offered flight instruction, charter service, and aircraft maintenance.

1979
Great Lakes Aviation officially incorporated on October 25th; the Company name change reflected its expansion in the Iowa Great Lakes Region of Northwest Iowa.

1981
First scheduled passenger flight began on October 12th between between Spencer and Des Moines, Iowa.

1983
On June 15th, the company acquired its first of eight Beechcraft 99 Turboprop airliners.

1985
In August, the company acquired its first Chicago O' Hare landing FAA slot lottery. This event allowed the beginning of scheduled service to Chicago O' Hare. In October , Great Lakes Aviation was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide service to its first subsidized Essential Air Service Routes.

1987
Great Lakes Aviation took delivery of their first Beechcraft 1900 Turboprop airliner with 19-seat capacity.

1988
April 1st Great Lakes acquired Alliance Airline's route structures and it's Chicago O'Hare landing slots, greatly enhancing the companies presence at Chicago O'Hare.

1991
In June, Great Lakes began providing scheduled air service to Denver's Stapleton Airport from cities in, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota.

1992
On April 25th Great Lakes Aviation inaugurated service as a United Express carrier through a comprehensive marketing agreement with United Airlines.

1994
On January 20th, the Company completed an initial public offering of its stock trading on the NASDAQ exchange under GLUX. The proceeds allowed the acquisition of larger aircraft. In May, Great Lakes Aviation purchased it's first of twelve Embraer Brasilia aircraft, which provide 30-seat capacity and in-flight service. The company also took delivery of its first Beechcraft 1900D airliner, which features a stand-up cabin enhancing passenger comfort.

1998
Great Lakes Aviation was selected by United Airlines to provide regional air service at 20 locations in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Nebraska to feed the Denver Hub.

1999
Great Lakes Aviation signed a lease with the Cheyenne Airport in May that facilitated a move from Spencer, Iowa to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The state of Wyoming provided funding to build a new maintenance facility and corporate headquarters for Great Lakes Aviation. Construction began in August.

2000
The move into the final phase of the new Corporate Headquarters was complete and creating approximately 150 new positions in Wyoming.

2001
On May 1st, Great Lakes Aviation announced a re-branding from the United Express to it's own independent identity "Great Lakes Airlines." A new code-share agreement with United Airlines was negotiated, allowing the company to arrange similar code-sharing relationships with other airlines. On July 9th, a code-share agreement began with Frontier Airlines bringing their affordable fares to communities served by Great Lakes Airlines.

2002
In August, Great Lakes welcomed new CEO, Chuck Howell. Mr. Howell came to Great Lakes from Nashville, Tennessee, where he served the previous six years as President/CEO of Corporate Airlines - a regional airline that has code-share agreements with Midway, Trans World and American Airlines.

2006
Great Lakes Airlines began offering their own inflight magazine, 'Peaks & Plains', to spotlight the small communities they serve.

2008
Great Lakes Airlines entered into its first Interline Electronic Ticketing agreement with US Airways allowing for a Great Lakes flight to be purchased in combination with a US Airways flight and passengers receive just one ticket.

2011
Great Lakes celebrates its 30th year of airline service. They sign Interline Electronic Ticketing agreements with American Airlines and Delta Airlines. Great Lakes began expanding to 7 new communities with service into Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

2012
The expansion into MSP continued well into 2012, returning Great Lakes to the hub city where its headquarters were located for a short period of time.

2013
In August implementation of new 1500 hour ATP First Officer qualifications goes into effect.

2014
In January new Part 117 Flight & Duty Time Rest Rules took effect.
In March received FAA authorization adding Part 135 Operation Specifications to existing Part 121 Certificate. Also, in March added Delta SkyMiles program to all Delta ticketed flights.

Warren Buffett has claimed that all the money invested in commercial scheduled airline passenger service since the Wright Brothers has been lost.

Not only no return ON investment, no return OF investment.

He claimed he had an 800 number to call when he throught of investing in airlines, 1-800-Just-Say-No.

The last few years, he has changed his mind apparently, as Berkshire has pretty sizeable stakes in Southwest, among others.