Before the United States Department of Transportation

Washington, DC

February 5, 2014

Essential Air Service at:

IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN/ASHLAND, WISCONSIN Docket OST-1996-1266

THIEF RIVER FALLS, MINNESOTA Docket OST-2001-10642

WATERTOWN, SOUTH DAKOTA Docket OST-2001-10644

under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et.seq.

Great Lakes has recently been forced to suspend service at Ironwood, MI and Thief River Falls, 

MN due to the severe industry-wide pilot shortage and its relative acute impact on Great Lakes. 

It is anticipated, pending approval by the FAA, that Great Lakes will be able to rebuild its pilot 

staff whereby pilots will be able operate Beech 1900D aircraft in a nine seat configuration. The 

proposed service to these communities assumes that we will have the necessary FAA approval 

and we will have rebuilt our availability of qualified pilots to crew the Beech 1900D aircraft in a 

nine seat configuration. It would be expected that the re-installation of the additional 10 seats, 

allowing for utilization of all 19 seats, would occur as soon as pilot experience allows for the 

issuance of restricted ATP certificates for First Officers.

This document contains the response of Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to Order Requesting 

Proposals 2013-12-14.

The proposed service is being offered with local service marketed and priced utilizing the Great 

Lakes (ZK) reservations system which includes customer ticket purchasing capability on both 

the Great Lakes' web site and on numerous web booking engines. Additionally, Great Lakes 

and Delta Airlines have formed a partnership to enable the sale of Great Lakes' passenger 

segments on the Delta website as well as, providing the passenger with through check-in and 

seamless baggage transfers. 

The proposal offers roundtrip service to our Minneapolis/St. Paul hub utilizing Beech 1900D 

aircraft. As an alternative to Minneapolis service, for Thief River Falls and Watertown, Great 

Lakes is also proposing one-stop service to our Denver hub with connecting services to our 

code-share partners United Airlines and Frontier Airlines. 

In addition, Great Lakes maintains interline ticketing and baggage agreements with the majority 

of the other carriers serving Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul, including interline e-ticketing 

agreements with American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines and United Airlines. All of 

which will offer the passenger maximum access to the domestic and international air 

transportation system.
The recently implemented regulatory requirements have dramatically accelerated a long 

anticipated pilot shortage, causing nationwide damage to small community air service. The 

unintended consequences of the Congressionally mandated regulatory changes will require 

commitments to be made to address the long-term impact on the airline industry as a whole. 

Great Lakes’ stands ready to participate in creative solutions to assist small communities in their 

efforts to remain in the National Air Transportation System.

Michael Matthews

Great Lakes Airlines

1022 Airport Parkway

(307) 432-7000

Questions and comments may be referred to:

Chief Financial Officer

Cheyenne, WY 82001
Table of Contents:

Proposal Subsidy Pas

Number Service Point(s) Hub(s) Served Round Trips Equipment Requirement F

1 Ironwood, Michigan MSP 2 1900D $2,152,426 

2 Thief River Falls, Minnesota MSP and/or DEN 2 1900D $2,428,750 

or 2 RT one-stops to DEN in 30 seat EMB-120 aircraft 

3 Watertown, South Dakota MSP and/or DEN 3 1900D $2,847,284 

or 2 RT one-stops to DEN in 30 seat EMB-120 aircraft 
Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential Air Service at

Ironwood, Michigan to Minneapolis/St. Paul ( MSP )

Two Roundtrips - B1900

98% completion factor

Departures: 1,227

Block Hours: 1,227

Revenue Passenger Miles: 935,000

Available Seat Miles: 4,359,531

Operating Revenues:

Passenger: IWD-MSP 5,000 psgrs at $88.75 $443,750

Other: (at 0.62% of passenger revenue) $2,751

Total Operating Revenues: $446,501

Operating Expenses:

Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance $365,710

Fuel and Oil $704,278

Flying Operations $242,013

Maintenance $430,051

Total Direct Expenses: $1,742,053

Total Indirect Expenses: $733,116

Total Operating Expenses: $2,475,169

Operating Loss ($2,028,668)

Profit Element (5.0% of Total Operating Expenses) $123,758

Annual Compensation Requirement: $2,152,426

No Upline Scheduling Restrictions
Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential Air Service at

Thief River Falls, Minnesota to Minneapolis/St. Paul ( MSP ) or Denver (DEN)

Two Roundtrips - B1900 to MSP

or Two Roundtrips one-stop to DEN in 30 Seat Aircraft

98.0% completion factor

Departures: 1,227

One-stop departures to be performed by EMB-120 30 seat aircraft if option is prefered by community 1,227

Operating Revenues:

Passenger: TVF-MSP 4,750 psgrs at $117.78 $559,455

Other: (at 0.62% of passenger revenue) $3,469

Total Operating Revenues: $562,924

Operating Expenses:

Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance $365,710

Fuel and Oil $892,456

Flying Operations $312,625

Maintenance $491,903

Total Direct Expenses: $2,062,694

Total Indirect Expenses: $786,519

Total Operating Expenses: $2,849,213

Operating Loss ($2,286,289)

Profit Element (5.0% of Total Operating Expenses) $142,461

Annual Compensation Requirement: $2,428,750

No Upline Scheduling Restrictions
Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd.

Annual Compensation Requirements for Essential Air Service at

Watertown, South Dakota to Minneapolis/St. Paul ( MSP ) and/or Denver ( DEN )

Three Roundtrips - B1900 to MSP or Two Roundtrips to MSP and One Roundtrip one-stop to DEN

or Two Roundtrips one-stop to DEN in 30 Seat Aircraft

98.0% completion factor

Departures to be performed by Beech 1900 schedules 1,840

(Extra B1900 Round Trip to Denver would be flown on weekends not included in base subsidy but would be subsidy eligible) 

One-stop departures to be performed by EMB-120 30 seat aircraft if option is prefered by community 1,227

Operating Revenues:

Passenger: ATY 9,000 psgrs at $97.75 $879,750

Other: (at 0.62% of passenger revenue) $5,454

Total Operating Revenues: $885,204

Operating Expenses:

Direct: Aircraft and Hull Insurance $365,710

Fuel and Oil $1,076,204

Flying Operations $438,662

Maintenance $711,245

Total Direct Expenses: $2,591,821

Total Indirect Expenses: $962,930

Total Operating Expenses: $3,554,751

Operating Loss ($2,669,547)

Profit Element (5.0% of Total Operating Expenses) $177,738

Annual Compensation Requirement: $2,847,284

No Upline Scheduling Restrictions
*** [IWD] IRONWOOD, MI ***

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7194 BE1 123456 MSP 

7194 945 1045 MSP BE1 123456

7195 BE1 12345 7 MSP 

7195 1630 1730 MSP BE1 12345 7
*** [TVF] THIEF RIVER FALLS, MN ***

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7141 730 845 MSP BE1 123456

7148 BE1 123456 MSP 

7148 1510 1625 MSP BE1 12345 7

7147 BE1 12345 7 MSP 
*** [ATY] WATERTOWN, SD ***

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7245 705 815 MSP BE1 123456

7248 BE1 123456 MSP 

7237 1325 1435 MSP BE1 12345 7

7246 BE1 12345 7 MSP 

7248 1154 1339 DEN BE1 Daily 

onestop 7237 BE1 Daily DEN 

onestop