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Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. was founded by Doug Voss and Ivan Simpson on April 5, 1977. The company originally was named Spirit Lake Airways and operated as a Fixed Base Operator at the Spirit Lake, Iowa Airport providing flight instruction, charter services and aircraft maintenance. The company name was changed to Great Lakes Aviation in 1979 to better reflect its service area, the Iowa Great Lakes region in northwest Iowa. The company was incorporated on October 5, 1979. In 1980 the company moved its base of operations to Spencer, Iowa and the first scheduled flights were begun on October 12, 1981 with flights between Spencer and Des Moines. Attorneys representing a major area corporation provided the traffic base. By 1985, the company's operations had expanded to the point where 23,400 passengers were carried on scheduled services. During that year, American Central Airlines ceased operations and its Chicago O'Hare landing slots were awarded to other carriers including Great Lakes Aviation. This event marked the beginning of Great Lakes Aviation flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from a number of communities in Iowa. In February, 1988, Great Lakes acquired the routes and O'Hare slots of Alliance Airlines, bringing six additional cities in Michigan and Wisconsin to the route network. By this time, the company's fleet consisted of a combination of Beech C99 15 passenger aircraft and Beech 1900 19 passenger pressurized regional airliners. Over the course of the next several years, Great Lakes continued to grow its O'Hare operation by assuming service obligations at a number of communities that other airlines were abandoning. During this period, service to Denver was initiated and additional B1900 aircraft were added to the fleet. In February, 1992 Great Lakes signed a code-sharing agreement with United Airlines. The agreement called for Great Lakes to operate its flights as United Express with the "UA" identifier on flights displayed in world-wide computer reservation systems. In addition, passengers on United Express flights earned mileage credits in United's frequent flier program and other program features offered by United Airlines were made available to Great Lakes' passengers. On January 19, 1994 the company completed an initial public offering of its stock, trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol GLUX. The proceeds of this sale of stock were used to add capacity through the acquisition of larger aircraft. In May, 1994 Great Lakes purchased its first of twelve Embraer Brasilia aircraft, offering 30 seat capacity and inflight service with a flight attendant. In January, 1995 the company was awarded 28 additional O'Hare slot exemptions allowing it to further expand operations in Illinois and Indiana. On August 8, 1995 Great Lakes inaugurated service in Arizona linking Phoenix and Tucson with three destinations in Sonora, Mexico under the name Arizona Airways Express. Beginning October 1, 1995 Great Lakes Aviation added service to a number of cities from Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina under a marketing agreement with Midway Airlines using the name Midway Connection. Service in both of these geographic regions was continued until May, 1997 when both regional route structures were discontinued due to lower than expected earnings associated with these expansion efforts. The company returned its focus to the core route structure feeding United Airlines' strong Chicago and Denver hubs. The company was awarded additional O'Hare slot exemptions in the spring of 1997 and further expanded its United Express service to points in Iowa as well as North and South Dakota. During this time period, the company also discontinued service at a number of marginal locations served from its O'Hare hub. The company's largest expansion effort was accomplished in April and June of 1998 when it was selected by United Airlines to provide replacement regional air service at 20 locations in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Nebraska. The company acquired 22 additional Beech 1900D aircraft to enable it to complete its growth steps in feeding United's Denver hub. In December, 1998 three additional points in Wyoming were added to the route structure. In May and June of 1999, the company will add United Express service at four additional points in Colorado and Texas and will complete the phase out of B1900C equipment in its passenger fleet. As of September 1, 2000 Great Lakes Aviation will provide United Express flights at 61 airports in 14 states with a fleet of eight Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 40 Beech 1900D regional airliners. The company employs over 1,300 aviation professionals. |
