FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

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

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS OCTOBER TRAFFIC; OCTOBER ENPLANEMENTS UP 12.5 PERCENT AND SET NEW RECORD HIGH FOR THE MONTH.

Cheyenne, Wyoming � November 8, 2000 � Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of October.

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 25,273,115 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 8.2 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 9.7 percent to 46,277,414. As a result, load factor decreased 0.8 points to 54.6 percent.  The company carried 106,642 passengers, a 12.5 percent increase compared to October, 1999 and represents a new company record for passenger enplanements for the month of October.

For the ten month period ended October 31, 2000, compared to the same ten month period in 1999, RPMs decreased 1.0 percent to 222,103,565, while (ASMs) decreased 0.6 percent to 442,687,391 resulting in a load factor of 50.2 percent for 2000 compared to 50.4 percent for the same ten month period in 1999.  The company carried 933,675 passengers for the ten months ended October 31, 2000, a 5.2 percent increase on a year over year basis.

 

OCTOBER AND YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

October, 2000

October, 1999

Change

Passengers Enplaned

106,642

94,802

+12.5%

Revenue Passenger Miles (000)

25,273

23,367

+8.2%

Available Seat Miles (000)

46,277

42,201

+9.7%

Load Factor

54.6%

55.4%

-0.8 pts.

YTD 2000

YTD 1999

Change

Passenger Enplaned

933,675

887,634

+5.2%

Revenue Passenger Miles (000)

222,104

224,370

-1.0%

Available Seat Miles (000)

442,687

445,575

-0.6%

Load Factor

50.2%

50.4%

-0.2pts

As of November 4, 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.