FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Contact: Dick Fontaine
Senior VP of Marketing
(307)432-7000
 

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS HIGHER NOVEMBER TRAFFIC WITH HIGHEST EVER NOVEMBER PASSENGER ENPLANEMENTS AND LOAD FACTOR.

Cheyenne, Wyoming � December 6, 2000 � Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of November.  Passengers carried and load factor represented new record high levels for the month of November.  In addition, the company recorded the highest ever daily load factor of 65.9 percent on Sunday, November 26 following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Great Lakes' United Express October traffic results were positively impacted by United Airlines' special fare promotions following United's summer operational disruptions.

Scheduled service generated 22,249,770 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 10.2 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 8.8 percent to 42,137,534. As a result, load factor increased 0.7 points to 52.8 percent.  The highest ever November load factor for the company.  Passengers carried increased 14.5 percent to 95,066 compared to November, 1999 and also represents a new company record for passenger enplanements for the month of November.

For the eleven month period ended November 30, 2000, compared to the same eleven month period in 1999, RPMs decreased 0.1 percent to 244,373,508, while (ASMs) increased 0.1 percent to 484,868,983 resulting in a load factor of 50.4 percent for 2000 compared to 50.5 percent for the same eleven month period in 1999.  The company carried 1,028,937 passengers for the eleven months ended November 30, 2000, a 6.0 percent increase on a year over year basis.

NOVEMBER AND YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

	November, 2000	November, 1999	Change
Passengers Enplaned	95,066	83,038	+14.5%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	22,250	20,187	+10.2%
Available Seat Miles (000)	42,138	38,726	+8.8%
Load Factor	52.8%	52.1%	+0.7pts
	YTD 2000	YTD 1999	Change
Passenger Enplaned	1,028,937	970,672	+6.0%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)	244,374	244,557	-0.1%
Available Seat Miles (000)	484,869	484,301	+0.1%
Load Factor	50.4%	50.5%	-0.1%

As of December 1, 2000, United Express flights were being provided at 60 airports in fourteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 320 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs with 98 flights at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, 208 at Denver and 14 at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 4 weekday round trip flights between Springfield, IL, and Chicago Meigs Field.  All scheduled flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity.