Great Lakes Airlines
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Founded | 1977 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | March 26, 2018 | ||||||
AOC # | GLBA031A | ||||||
Hubs | |||||||
Fleet size | 28 | ||||||
Destinations | 10 Parent company Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. | | |||||
Traded as | Expert Market: GLUX | ||||||
Headquarters | Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States | ||||||
Founders |
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Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming,[2] with a hub at Denver International Airport.
As of November 2013, Great Lakes Airlines received $58,299,575 in annual federal subsidies for Essential Air Services that they provided to rural airports in the U.S.[3]
Great Lakes Airlines was a large United Express feeder carrier from 1992 to 2002 operating to over 100 cities.
On March 26, 2018, the airline stopped scheduled passenger flights, but continued to support Aerodynamics Inc. flights[4] through September 1, 2018.[5]
History
The airline was established by Doug Voss and Ivan Simpson and started operations on April 5, 1977 as Spirit Lake Airways.[6] It was reorganised and began scheduled services on October 12, 1981, as Great Lakes Airlines with flights between Spencer and Des Moines, Iowa. In February 1988, Great Lakes acquired Alliance Airlines.
Prior to the relocation of the headquarters to Cheyenne, Great Lakes was headquartered in Summit Township, Clay County, Iowa, by Spencer Municipal Airport and near the city of Spencer.[7]
By early 1995, Great Lakes acquired Northern Star Airlines dba Midway Connection on behalf of
In late 1995, Great Lakes acquired the assets of Arizona Airways obtaining routes from a hub at Tucson International Airport to Phoenix and Page, Arizona, as well as to Albuquerque, NM, and to several points in northern Mexico. Service was also added from Phoenix to Show Low, Arizona. This operation ended on May 16, 1997.
Great Lakes' status as United Express was downgraded in early 2002 when it became an independent carrier but still maintained an indirect codeshare agreement with United Airlines as well as establishing a new code share with Frontier Airlines. Since then Great Lakes saw a steady decline in traffic and service to many cities was dropped including the entire hub operation at Chicago O'Hare. The Minneapolis hub was also closed however a small operation there was reinstated on March 17, 2012 when Essential Air Service (EAS) routes formerly flown by Northwest Airlink carriers were obtained. The Minneapolis hub closed again by 2016. The Denver hub then became the main focus for Great Lakes however routes from that hub were vanishing as well. Many cities the carrier once served as United Express no longer have any airline service.
New flights from
A hub operation at
In 2013, a new government ruling requiring first officers to have a minimum of 1500 flight hours and restrictions on crew rest and duty times created a severe hardship for Great Lakes as well as many other commuter airlines. The airline was then forced to pull ten seats out of most of its 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft. Many flights had to be cancelled as well as all service to several cities including Mason City Municipal Airport.[9] On April 1, 2015, service to Sheridan, Wyoming was dropped leaving the remote city with no air service. Sheridan had been served since the early days of aviation by many airlines, some with jets including Boeing 737s by Western Airlines. Most routes Great Lakes has served are subsidized through Essential Air Service. Through its history the airline is known to have served at least 162 cities and 164 airports (three at Chicago) but was down to only seven cities as of March 22, 2018.
Great Lakes had a rather unusual theme where many of their Beech 1900D aircraft had their tails painted advertising cities that they flew to as well as National Parks in their territory. Some of the tails advertised the cities of Laramie, Wyoming; Alamosa and Telluride, Colorado; Scottsbluff, Nebraska; Ponca City, Oklahoma; Garden City, Kansas, Dodge City, Kansas and Liberal, Kansas; Sierra Vista, Arizona; Pierre, South Dakota; Miles City, Montana, as well as the White Mountains of Arizona, the Teton Range and Devils Tower in Wyoming.
On June 2, 2016, Great Lakes Airlines, Silver Airways and Frontier Airlines announced a partnership for recruiting pilots.[10]
On March 26, 2018, Great Lakes Airlines announced that operations would be suspended effective at midnight. Despite ceasing operations, the company didn't file for bankruptcy and certain segments of the company continued to operate. Flights to Pierre, South Dakota and Watertown, South Dakota continued to operate through Great Lakes Jet Express.[11]
Destinations
Great Lakes Airlines was the largest Essential Air Service provider in the United States for many years but served only two of its seven destinations through the Essential Air Service program prior to ceasing operations.[1]
Great Lakes Jet Express
In 2016, Great Lakes entered into a
Fleet
During the 1980s Great Lakes operated
As of September 2017, the Great Lakes Airlines fleet included the following aircraft:[13]
Aircraft | Total | Passengers |
---|---|---|
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia | 6 (as of August 2016)[14] | 30 |
Beechcraft 1900D
|
24 | 19 or 9 |
Accidents and incidents
- On November 19, 1996, King Air during landing at Quincy Regional Airport. The ten passengers and two crew members on board were killed. The pilots of the King Air were blamed for failing to effectively monitor both the common frequency and to scan for traffic.[15]
- On August 19, 1998, United Express Flight 1605 operated by Great Lakes Airlines, a Beechcraft 1900, was substantially damaged. Shortly after the airplane took off, the crew heard a loud noise and felt a slight vibration from the left propeller. They returned and landed. It was discovered that the propeller erosion shield had debonded and a portion had penetrated the passenger cabin just aft of the airstair door, knocked ajar Seat 1A Passenger Service Unit, ricocheted off the ceiling, and penetrated the inner window pane at Seat 2C. One passenger was injured.[16]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Great Lakes Route Map" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
- ^ "Contact Us Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine." Great Lakes Airlines. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
- ^ "Essential Air Service Subsidies by Airport" (PDF). transportation.gov.
- ^ Molly McMillin (Apr 2, 2018). "Lack of pilots shuts down US regional Great Lakes Airlines". Aviation Week Network.
- ^ "Great Lakes Airlines will no longer be selling tickets for flights departing after September 1, 2018 operated by Aerodynamics Inc" (PDF). greatlakesav.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ "Spirit Lake Airways". Airline History. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "Welcome to Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd." Great Lakes Airlines. December 5, 1998. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
- ^ "Timetable" (PDF). Great Lakes Airlines. 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
- ^ "Great Lakes suspending air service to Mason City". Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ^ "Frontier Career Pilot Program" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- ^ "Great Lakes Suspends Flight Operations" (PDF). Great Lakes Airlines. Great Lakes Airlines. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
- ^ Smith, Amanda & Boney, Stan. Financial support ending for Chicago flights from Youngstown, WKBN, August 17, 2016, Retrieved 2016-09-12
- ^ "Great Lakes Airlines".
- ^ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". Airliner World (November 2016): 38.
- Aviation Safety Network
- ^ Ranter, Harro (1998-08-19). "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft 1900D N251GL Denver International Airport, CO (DEN)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
External links
- Great Lakes Airlines
- Greatlakesav.com (archive)