Great Lakes Cuts Path to Reinvention
The company is seeking to replenish its pilot population.

Cheyenne, Wyoming-based Great Lakes Airlines perhaps has felt the effects of the industry’s failure to attract new pilots as much as any member of the Regional Airline Association, as CEO Chuck Howell saw the size of his pilot group shrink from 308 to 98 over the course of a year. Consequently, Howell needed to find some creative ways to compensate for the loss, shutting down 17 cities since July and going as far as to prevent access to 10 seats in half of the company’s Beech 1900 turboprops, effectively turning them into nine-seaters and allowing their operation under FAA Part 135 rules. The airline plans to convert all of its Beech 1900s to the nine-seat configuration by July. By then, its B1900 fleet will shrink from 28 to 17, as Great Lakes simply parks the remaining 11. Out of the six Embraer Brasilias in its fleet, it flies only two.