Great Lakes Aviation originated as Spirit Lake Airways on April 15, 1977. Operations began with basic FBO services, flight instruction, charter service, and airport management services for the city of Spirit Lake, Iowa.
The Company changed its name to Great Lakes Aviation in 1979 to better reflect its service area, the Iowa Great Lakes Region. In 1980 Great Lakes Aviation moved its base of operations to Spencer, Iowa continuing as an FBO and providing airport management services at Spencer Municipal Airport.
Great Lakes offered its first scheduled air service on October 12, 1981 between Spencer and Des Moines, Iowa. By 1985 Great Lakes flew nearly 5,000 hours, carried 23,407 passengers and was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide subsidized Essential Air Service at Ottumwa and Clinton, Iowa. This marked the beginning of Great Lakes' service at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
On April 1, 1988, Great Lakes acquired from Alliance Airlines its routes and Chicago O'Hare landing slots, greatly enhancing the Company's presence at O'Hare. In 1990 and 1991 Great Lakes carried 166,456 and 248,981 passengers respectively.
On April 25, 1992, Great Lakes inaugurated service as a United Express carrier through a comprehensive marketing agreement with United Air Lines. This arrangement provided the full product line of United at 53 cities within a nine state area in the Midwest. The Great Lakes / United Express network now encompasses 62 destinations.
On August 8, 1995, Great Lakes inaugurated service in three Southwestern U.S. cities and three Mexico destinations operating as Arizona Airways Express. On April 7, 1996 this service was converted to operate as Great Lakes Airlines and offered service to eight destinations in the Southwest United States and Mexico.
On October 1, 1995, Great Lakes inaugurated service as Midway Connection through a marketing agreement with Midway Airlines. Great Lakes currently provided regional service to thirteen southeastern cities from the Midway Airlines Raleigh/Durham hub as Midway Connection.
Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ/NMS:GLUX) with over 1300 professional airline employees, a combined aircraft fleet of Beechcraft 1900's and Embraer EMB-120 Advanced Brasilia aircraft. The Company operates primarily as United Express. Corporate Headquarters are located in Spencer, Iowa.
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