FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dick Fontaine
Senior VP of Marketing
(307)432-7000
GREAT LAKES AVIATION REPORTS DECEMBER, FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR, 2000 TRAFFIC; DECEMBER AND FOURTH QUARTER PASSENGERS AND LOAD FACTOR AT HIGHEST EVER LEVELS.
Cheyenne, Wyoming – January 8, 2001 – Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLUX) today announced preliminary passenger traffic results for the month of December, the fourth quarter and the full year 2000.
In spite of severe weather disruptions at the company's Chicago and Denver hubs in December, passengers carried and load factor represented new record highs for the month of December and the company's fourth quarter.
For December, scheduled service generated 21,218,263 revenue passenger miles (RPM's), a 0.2 percent increase from the same month last year. Available seat miles (ASM's) decreased 1.8 percent to 41,047,208. As a result load factor increased 1.0 point to 51.7 percent, the highest ever December load factor for the company. Revenue passengers boarded increased 1.9 percent over December, 1999 to 88,797, and represents a new record high for the month of December.
For the quarter ending December 31, 2000, scheduled service generated 68,752,920 RPM's, a 6.2 percent increase from the same quarter last year. ASM's increased 5.5 percent to 129,462,156. As a result load factor improved 0.4 points to 53.1 percent. The company carried 290,505 passengers, a 9.6% increase compared to the fourth quarter in 1999. Both passengers carried and load factor for the quarter represent new record highs for the company.
For the twelve months ended December 31,2000 compared to the same twelve month period in 1999, RPM's decreased 0.1 percent to 265,588,947 while ASM's were essentially unchanged 525,872,133, resulting in a 50.5 percent load factor for 2000 which is identical to the 1999 full year load factor. The company carried 1,117,576 passengers for the twelve months ended December 31, 2000, a 5.7 percent increase on a year over year basis and a new record high for annual enplanements.
DECEMBER, FOURTH QUARTER AND TWELVE MONTH YEAR-TO-YEAR STATISTICS
December, 2000 |
December, 1999 |
Change |
|
| Passengers Enplaned | 88,797 | 87,126 | +1.9% |
| Revenue Passenger Miles (000) | 21,218 | 21,175 | +0.2% |
| Available Seat Miles (000) | 41,047 | 41,792 | -1.8% |
| Load Factor | 51.7% | 50.7% | +1.0 pt |
4Q 2000 |
4Q 1999 |
Change |
|
| Passenger Enplaned | 290,505 | 264,966 | +9.6% |
| Revenue Passenger Miles (000) | 68,753 | 64,730 | +6.2% |
| Available Seat Miles (000) | 129,462 | 122,719 | +5.5% |
| Load Factor | 53.1% | 52.7% | +0.4 pt |
YTD 2000 |
YTD 1999 |
Change |
|
| Passenger Enplaned | 1,117,576 | 1,057,798 | +5.7% |
| Revenue Passenger Miles (000) | 265,589 | 265,733 | -0.1% |
| Available Seat Miles (000) | 525,872 | 526,093 | N/C |
| Load Factor | 50.5% | 50.5% | N/C |
As of January 8, 2001, scheduled service was being provided at 57 airports in fourteen states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Raytheon/Beech 1900D regional airliners. A total of 318 weekday flights are scheduled at three hubs with 94 flights at Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, 210 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 under a code-share agreement with United Airlines.