FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dick Fontaine
Senior VP of Marketing
(307)432-7000
GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS MARCH TRAFFIC DOWN 6.5 PERCENT WITH CAPACITY DOWN 9.9%. LOAD FACTOR OF 48.9 PERCENT REPRESENTS A COMPANY RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH.
Cheyenne, Wyoming – April 7, 2001 – Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of March.
Scheduled service generated 19,874,052 revenue passenger miles (RPMs), a 6.9 percent decrease from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 9.9 percent to 40,609,2336. As a result, load factor increased 1.5 points to 48.9 percent, the highest ever March load factor for the company. Passengers carried decreased 6.5 percent compared to March, 2000 to 83,579. The reduction in traffic reflects the January 7 and February 15, 2001 deletion of service in four Chicago-O'Hare markets where weak passenger loads had been experienced.
For the three months ended March 31, 2001 compared to the same three month period in 2000, revenue passenger miles (RPM's) decreased 10.6 percent to 52,709,436 while available seat miles (ASM's) decreased 7.7 percent to 118,126,455, resulting in a load factor of 44.6 percent for the year 2001 compared to 46.1 percent for the same three month period in 2000. The company carried 222,770 revenue passengers for the three month period ending March 31, 2001, a 9.6 percent decrease on a year over year basis.
MARCH AND YEAR TO DATE STATISTICS
March 2001 |
March 2000 |
Change |
|
| Passengers Enplaned | 83,579 | 89,400 | -6.5% |
| Revenue Passenger Miles (000) | 19,874 | 21,350 | -6.9% |
| Available Seat Miles (000) | 40,609 | 45,063 | -9.9% |
| Load Factor | 48.9% | 47.4% | +1.5 pts |
YTD 2001 |
YTD 2000 |
Change |
|
| Passenger Enplaned | 222,770 | 246,527 | -9.6% |
| Revenue Passenger Miles (000) | 52,709 | 58,956 | -10.6% |
| Available Seat Miles (000) | 118,126 | 127,991 | -7.7% |
| Load Factor | 44.6% | 46.1% | -1.5 pts |
As of April 2, 2001, United Express flights were being provided at 55 airports in thirteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 280 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs with 76 flights at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, 190 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.