Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. (Great Lakes Airlines) (Cheyenne, Wyoming) on February 1 suspended service to and from Devils Lake and Jamestown, North Dakota; Fort Dodge and Mason City, Iowa; Ironwood, Michigan; and Thief River Falls, Minnesota due to the severe industry-wide pilot shortage and its relative acute impact on Great Lakes according to a company statement.

Charles Howell, CEO released the following statement: “Due to the unintended consequences of the new congressionally mandated pilot regulatory requirements, the company feels it is in the best interest of our customers, communities, and employees to suspend service from these stations until we are able to rebuild our staff of pilots in order to provide reliable service. We deeply regret and apologize for this inconvenience.”

All customers with future flights in any of these stations will be given refunds.

Editor’s Comment: Many pilots and pilot groups (as the comments will attest) would strongly argue it is not a pilot shortage issue facing GLA but a pay issue. Simply put, higher pilot wages would probably attract more applications.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Great Lakes promotes many of its destination with area displays on the tails. Beech (Raytheon) 1900D N202UX (msn UE-202) promotes Dodge City, Kansas as it arrives in Los Angeles.

Great Lakes Airlines: 

Updated Route Map: Despite its name, the airline does not serve a city on any of the Great Lakes.