FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

Contact: Dick Fontaine
Senior VP Marketing
(307) 432-7200

GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS SEPTEMBER TRAFFIC; RESULTS IMPACTED BY RESIDUAL EFFECT OF UNITED AIRLINES' OPERATIONAL DISRUPTIONS.
 

Cheyenne, Wyoming � October 9, 2000 � Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of September.

As expected, Great Lakes' United Express September traffic results were negatively impacted by the fallout from United Airlines' operational disruptions that had occurred during the summer months.  In addition, revenue passenger miles declined more than passenger enplanements because of a reduced average passenger trip length which declined 3.9 percent to 233 miles compared to 242 miles in 1999.  This reflects the shift in flying from longer stage length markets such as Denver to Bismarck, North Dakota and Sioux Falls, South Dakota to shorter stage length markets such as Denver to Santa Fe, New Mexico and Gillette, Wyoming.

Scheduled service generated 20,861,166  revenue passenger miles (RPMs), an 8.6 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 7.3 percent to 44,693,023. As a result load factor decreased 8.1 points to 46.7 percent. The company carried 89,738 passengers, a 4.9 percent decrease compared to September, 1999

For the quarter ended September 30, 2000, RPMs decreased 6.0 percent to 72,241,838 compared to the same three months in 1999 while ASMs increased by 2.1 percent to 136,596,411 resulting in a load factor of 52.9 percent for 2000 compared to 57.4 percent for the same quarter in 1999. The company carried 309,852 passengers for the quarter ended September 30, 2000, a 1.0 percent decrease on a year over year basis.

For the nine month period ended September 30, 2000 compared to the same nine month period in 1999, RPMs decreased 2.1 percent to 196,824,442 while ASMs decreased 1.7 percent to 396,454,035, resulting in a load factor of 49.6 percent for 2000 compared to 49.8 percent for the same nine month period in 1999. The company carried 827,229 passengers for the nine months ended September 30, 2000, a 4.3 percent increase on a year over year basis.

SEPTEMBER, THIRD QUARTER AND YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICS

		SEP., 2000	SEP., 1999	Change
Passengers Enplaned		89,738	94,319	- 4.9%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)		20,861	22,821	- 8.6%
Available Seat Miles (000)		44,693	41,671	+ 7.3%
Load Factor		46.7%	54.8%	- 8.1 pts
		3rd Qtr 2000	3rd Qtr 1999	Change
Passenger Enplaned		309,852	313,001	- 1.0%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)		72,242	76,861	- 6.0%
Available Seat Miles (000)		136,596	133,793	+2.1%
Load Factor		52.9%	57.4%	- 4.5 pts.
		YTD 2000	YTD 1999	Change
Passengers Enplaned		827,229	792,832	+ 4.3%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)		196,824	201,003	- 2.1%
Available Seat Miles (000)		396,454	403,374	- 1.7%
Load Factor		49.6%	49.8%	- 0.2 pts.

As of October 1, 2000, United Express flights were being provided at 61 airports in fourteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Beechcraft 1900D's. A total of 336 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs, 96 flights at Chicago O'Hare, 226 at Denver and 14 at Minneapolis-St. Paul. In addition, the company operates 4 weekday round trip flights between Springfield, Illinois and Chicago-Meigs Field. All Scheduled flights are operated under the United Express marketing identity.