Great Lakes Aviation Reports December, Fourth Quarter And Full Year, 2001 Traffic

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Jan. 9 Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd (Nasdaq: GLUX - news) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of December, the fourth quarter and the full year 2001.

For December, scheduled service generated 11,018,541 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 48.1 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 29.4 percent to 28,974,620. As a result load factor decreased 13.7 points to 38.0 percent. Revenue passengers boarded decreased 51.5 percent compared to December, 2000 to 43,128.

For the quarter ending December 31, 2001, scheduled service generated 34,989,532 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 49.1 percent decrease from the same quarter last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 31.0 percent to 89,368,299. As a result load factor decreased by 13.9 points to 39.2 percent. The company carried 138,096 passengers, a 52.5% decrease compared to the fourth quarter in 2000.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2001 compared to the same twelve month period in 2000, RPMs decreased 24.5 percent to 200,549,249 while ASMs decreased 18.5 percent to 428,702,303, resulting in a 46.8 percent load factor for 2001 compared to 50.5 for the year 2000. The company carried 811,216 passengers for the twelve months ended December 31, 2001, a 27.4 percent decrease on a year over year basis.

Traffic reductions were a reflection of planned reductions in capacity in the fourth quarter in response to lower demand following the events of September 11. In addition, the company significantly reduced flying at its Chicago-O'Hare hub in May.

      DECEMBER, FOURTH QUARTER AND TWELVE MONTH YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

                                   Dec. 2001       Dec. 2000        Change
     Passengers Enplaned             43,128          88,836        -51.5%
     Revenue Passenger Miles (000)   11,019          21,227        -48.1%
     Available Seat Miles (000)      28,975          41,047        -29.4%
     Load Factor                      38.0%           51.7%     -13.7 Pts

                                    4Q 2001         4Q 2000         Change
     Passenger Enplaned             138,096         290,582        -52.5%
     Revenue Passenger Miles (000)   34,990          68,755        -49.1%
     Available Seat Miles (000)      89,368         129,462        -31.0%
     Load Factor                      39.2%           53.1%     -13.9 Pts

                                   YTD 2001        YTD 2000         Change
     Passengers Enplaned            811,216       1,117,811        -27.4%
     Revenue Passenger Miles (000)  200,549         265,606        -24.5%
     Available Seat Miles (000)     428,702         525,916        -18.5%
     Load Factor                      46.8%           50.5%      -3.7 Pts


 

As of January 8, 2002, scheduled service was being provided at 48 airports in fifteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 218 weekday flights are scheduled at four hubs with 176 flights at Denver International Airport, 24 at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, 14 at Minneapolis-St. Paul and four at Phoenix. All scheduled flights are operated under the Great Lakes Airlines marketing identity in conjunction with code-share agreements with United Airlines and Frontier Airlines.