Cleveland, Ohio
Great Lakes Express today announced they have begun new service from their Milwaukee hub to New Orleans, Dallas (DFW), Detroit and Flint. The flights to New Orleans and Dallas mark the longest flights the airline currently fly’s. The new routes will be flown on a brand new CRJ-700 aircraft which was delivered to the Milwaukee hub Monday afternoon. Great Lakes Express recently began new service from the Akron Canton Regional Airport to Atlanta, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Hartford, Baltimore and New York. The airlines parent company (Great Lakes International) is planning new service for the Canadian division with two aircraft in Toronto Canada. The company is also planning on a large expansion through the Premier West division and will make it’s debut in the air cargo business this fall.
The new routes for Great Lakes Express are now available for booking through the Milwaukee hub and run under flight numbers 2554 to 2561.
Welcome Aboard Great Lakes Express!
Great Lakes International today announced new regional service from their Mid West based airline Great Lakes Express. This is the first jet aircraft based at the Akron Canton Regional Airport for the airline and begins the return to basics for the airline, regional service at a regional price. The airline will now directly compete with airlines other than discount carriers from Akron Canton including Delta Airlines and Air Tran Airways. The airline will begin NEW daily non-stop service to Atlanta, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Hartford, Baltimore and New York Laguardia. The new flights will be flown on a newly acquired Bombardier CRJ-200 with the tail number N502GL and will feature hub and spoke service to the previous mentioned destinations.
Great Lakes International has also announced they have leased (1) one Boeing 737-400, (1) one Boeing 737-700NG and a new CRJ-700 which will go into service this month. The company also announced the order to Boeing for four Boeing 737-600NG aircraft that will go into service in September with Premier West and Premier North. Great Lakes International has also announced they have taken over the lease of two other aircraft but they have not released the type of the aircraft. It is believed to be the largest aircraft yet to be added to the fleet of any of the three divisions.
Great Lakes International (parent company of Great Lakes Express Regional) announced they have added several new destinations to their Cleveland Hub. The flights will be flown on the Embraer E120 to Charleston (WV), Greensboro, Beckley, Clarksburg, Asheville, Parkersburg, Raleigh and Morgantown. The new routes are available now from the Cleveland Hub Page.
Portland Oregon
May 12, 2010
Premier West today announced at a large press conference in Portland Oregon that the airline is on the move. The low cost upstart airline will make a new home in Portland Oregon bringing the total number of hubs on the west coast to three. Portland joins two overwhelmingly successful hubs in Las Vegas and Phoenix as well as focus cities in San Diego, the Los Angeles area and Reno. The Managing Director of the airline announced flights from Portland would be flying to Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Calgary and Vancouver. He also stated that Great Lakes Charters would soon be launching service from PDX as well with destinations including Astoria, Newport, Pendleton, Boeing Field as well as many others. Premier West currently fly’s a fleet of Boeing 737-500 and 737-700 aircraft. The airline also announced they will now connect with Premier North flights as well as Great Lakes Express. Paul Herman (Managing Director) stated that the west coast of the United States and Canada has become the most profitable network in the company. He stated that he believes this is due to the airlines customer base as well as the Boeing 737 equipment that they fly.
Paul Herman also said “Portland is the logical choice for Premier West, it is by far the best choice for Premier West and Great Lakes International (parent company of Premier West)”. “We will now connect the entire West Coast from San Diego to Ketchikan, yes, I said Ketchikan”.
Fly Premier West, Nobody Does The West Coast Better!
Great Lakes International, Premier West and Premier North today announced service has begun from Vancouver International Airport. Paul Herman (Managing Director of Great Lakes International) stated “this is a big day for us here at Great Lakes International and our partners here in Calgary and Vancouver. We have only begun to tap into the full potential of this division and we fully expect to see a huge return on our investment”. Premier North will fly an all Boeing fleet for now including the Boeing 737-700 and the Boeing 737-400. The airline is expecting to place an order with Boeing for additional aircraft including the 737-600 later this year. Paul urged patience as investors must see a full return on their investment sooner rather than later.
Great Lakes International is a privately held company operating primarily in the passenger airline business. The company headquarters is located in Cleveland Ohio with offices in Syracuse, Grand Rapids and Phoenix.
Cleveland, Ohio April 28, 2010
Great Lakes International today announced their upcoming schedule for Premier North (Great Lakes Internationals Canadian Division). The new routes are expected to begin in the next couple of weeks. The routes will be flown on 2 Boeing aircraft, the 737-400 and the 737-700NG. Like all aircraft in the Great Lakes International family, the two Premier North aircraft will not feature a first class section, but rather 18 seats have been removed from each aircraft to provide passengers extra comfort throughout the aircraft. Paul Herman (Managing Director) today stated that the decision to go with Boeing was an easy one, “we make money with Boeing, our largest profit margins are when we fly Boeing and the leading “low fare” airline in Canada fly’s all Boeing”. Paul continued to say “this will be one of our most difficult markets to tackle; Canada is loyal to Canadian based airlines”. “While we feel we have a very good plan in Canada only time will tell and the market will decide who succeeds”.
With a current market value of almost 50 million dollars, this is said to be a very risky move for Great Lakes International as the routes they have chosen are already saturated and highly competitive. So why the move to Western Canada? Paul Herman says “our passengers in the US like our style of flying, fast paced, reasonably priced and fantastic service, we think Canada will like that too”. Great Lakes International has a three month commitment to Advantage Aircraft Leasing for the two aircraft. If in three months the routes are not proving profitable the two leases can end at that time. For now however the plan is full steam ahead and the airline’s financial wizards will be watching very carefully.
Cleveland, Ohio
April 15, 2010
Great Lakes International today announced service from Duluth to Thunder Bay has been upgraded to a Boeing 737-500 aircraft. The route previously served by an Embraer E135 has been returned to Advantage Aircraft Leasing and a special lease agreement with a South Western airline has been obtained. In addition to the Duluth to Thunder Bay service Great Lakes Express will also add a daily flight to Minneapolis, Detroit, St Louis and Cincinnati. The new route numbers are 1642 through 1653 from the Milwaukee Hub.
PLEASE NOTE: THE 737-500 CAN BE substituted with the Boeing 737-600NG.
ALSO!!! The Dash 8 Q200, the Embraer E120 and PMDG’s JS4100 can be interchangeable on any flight that calls for any of the above stated aircraft.
Cleveland, Ohio
April 14, 2010
Great Lakes Express today announced they have begun new service from their Cleveland Hopkins hub. The new service will be offered on the Bombardier CRJ-200 and the Embraer E120. The new destinations were made possible by a gate swap with another airline serving the East Coast. Great Lakes Express will begin serving non-stop flights to South Bend, Flint, Toronto, Philadelphia, Montreal and several other destinations. The new flight numbers are 312 through 323 and 612 through 621. Great Lakes International (parent company of Great Lakes Express) also announced they are in negotiations to begin service to Washington Dulles International Airport and New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport. This would bring Great Lakes into all of the airports in the Washington DC area and all airports in the New York Area (LaGuardia, Islip, Kennedy and Newark). More information is due later this month.
Cleveland, Ohio April 9, 2010
Great Lakes National Holdings today announced they have changed their name to Great Lakes International. The company operates two existing airlines, Great Lakes Express and Premier West. Despite the downturn in the airline industry over the past few months, the primary owner of the airline, Paul Herman verified that he has reacquired the rights to operate an airline in Canada. Due to the laws that govern airlines in both the United States and Canada the Canadian aircraft will be leased to Great Lakes International by a company in Ottawa. The airline will operate through the Premier West operations center in Phoenix under the name Premier North. At this time Premier North will be prohibited from flying into the United States thus flying only in Canada. There will be two Boeing aircraft stationed in Canada, one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast. Paul Herman describes this as a “temporary test, if it works out all is well; if it does not the entire operation will be pulled very quickly”. He continues to say “this is an opportunity for our neighbors to the north to see how the Great Lakes group of airlines operates”. Paul did not state exactly when this new service will begin, but expects all of the regulatory measures to be met within the next week to ten days.
Paul Herman also stated the company’s current position with Bombardier and Embraer. The airline had announced that all of the Bombardier aircraft would be eliminated in favor of all Embraer aircraft (jet aircraft only). Paul stated “our ability to get financing at this point has halted that plan, plus in the final hour Bombardier has come through for us in a huge way, and we will continue to fly CRJ aircraft. We also have plans to continue expanding our Bombardier Q200 routes, and who knows, by the end of the year we may even see a few on the West Coast”. Although the airline has cancelled all Boeing orders, Paul Herman said he is still committed to the Seattle company and plans on future 737’s flying the blue skies of NORTH AMERICA!
Phoenix, Arizona March 11, 2010
At a small press conference today Premier West announced they have connected their two hubs in Las Vegas and Phoenix to Milwaukee Wisconsin. Milwaukee is a hub for Premier West’s partner airline Great Lakes Express. The flights however will not be non-stop; they will have stops in Colorado Springs, Kansas City and Omaha. Paul Herman, one of the airlines principle owners stated that the new routes will be offered on the Boeing 737-700NG. The brand new aircraft will feature seating for 138 in a one class configuration. The new routes are available now through the Phoenix and Las Vegas Hubs.