April 20, 2011
Cleveland, Ohio

Great Lakes Express announced today new non-stop service from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to Blue Grass Airport in Lexington Kentucky.  GLE already serves up daily service to LEX but has yet to offer non-stop service from their main hub in Cleveland.  Great Lakes Express also announced additional service to other destinations including Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis and Cincinnati.  The new routes are flown on a new CRJ-200 and are flight numbers 912-923 available now from the Cleveland Hub Page.

October 30, 2010
Cleveland, Ohio

The Great Lakes International Group today announced today that Premier West has finalized a deal that will place four Boeing 737-500 aircraft in Kansas City (KMCI) International Airport.  This expansion will make MCI Premier West’s fourth hub in addition to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Portland.  The new domicile will focus on the Midwest and will share service with Great Lakes Express (regional service).  Over time it is expected Great Lakes Express and Premier West will merge several routes with Premier West running the mainline routes and Great Lakes Express running the smaller regional routes.  The airline will begin service through Premier West to the following cities:

St Louis
Indianapolis
Milwaukee
Memphis
Nashville
Dallas (Love)
Birmingham
Panama City
Chicago
Omaha
Oklahoma City
Amarillo
Moline
Minneapolis
Austin
Little Rock
Jackson
Huntsville

Great Lakes International has also stated that a deal has been reached with Embraer, the deal will bring more E170 equipment to Great Lakes Express to replace the Boeing 737-500 (which will be moved to Kansas City).  These changes are expected to take place in November.

Not Just You’re West Coast Airline Any More…

Great Lakes International today announced they have begun talks with three large airports in the Midwest and plan on expanding very soon with Premier West.  Although the company did not specify where the expansion would take place Paul Herman (Director of Operations) did state that a final decision has been made, but did not specify where.  He did state that the expansion would start out small with 2-3 Boeing 737-500 aircraft (which 1 will be converted to a 737-600NG) and 1 CRJ-200.  The hub would be connected with flights from Las Vegas (through Denver) and Phoenix (through Dallas) with a Boeing 757-200.  Paul Herman also stated that with the additional service in the Midwest, Great Lakes Express would reduce the number of 737 aircraft flying to the Midwest and will either relocate the aircraft on the East Coast or move them to Premier North (Toronto).

Paul also announced that Premier West is looking into the possibility of seasonal flights to Cancun and or Montego Bay.  Currently the company does not fly to any international destinations other than Canada and the new potential flights would be a big boost to the airline during the winter months.  When asked about the expansion into Canada Paul had little to add other than to say it has been more difficult and time consuming than originally planned, but “we are moving forward”.  The company has been in talks with another airline to potentially merge giving them the ability for major expansion on the Canadian East Cost.

Premier West also announced today that they will eliminate the non-stop flight from Las Vegas to Cleveland later this month due to low sales.  Paul Herman basically said that a flight of this distance is not what we are good at, “not our bread and butter”.  Premier West will be moving that aircraft to Portland where it will expand its presence there adding new flights to new destinations.  Paul closed his press conference saying that any and all rumors about the airlines planned flights to Hawaii are entirely false, he stated that even though Premier West has leased 757 aircraft they will stay a low cost, high frequency airline.  Premier West currently has hubs in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Portland.

Great Lakes International has announced new service will begin from Las Vegas on Premier West Air this week.  Flying the CRJ-200 Premier West announced new flights to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, Monterey Peninsula Airport, Sacramento International Airport, Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Elko Regional Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport and St George Muni Airport Information.  The new flights add to the steady increased presence the airline is obtaining on the West Coast.  Great Lakes International is planning on placing another CRJ-200 in Las Vegas later this month.

Great Lakes Express and Premier West today announced the launch of their new joint venture out of Portland International Airport in Portland Oregon.  The new service will feature regional equipment, a new CRJ-200 and will fly to several destinations in Oregon and Washington.  Director of Operations Paul Herman stated that this is a physical market study to see if our East Coast style of regional flying will work out on the left coast.  Paul Herman says that we should know in about 30 days if there are more aircraft added or if the aircraft moves to the East Coast.  Paul also said that the market is ripe for a good regional airline to come in and take the business; he says the level of commitment by the other airlines just isn’t there.  “We treat our customers very well and they appreciate our level of service to them” Paul said.  The market share is obtainable for Premier West and Great Lakes Express.  “This could be the beginning of something huge out here, we could be the dominant player in mainline routes and regional routes” Paul concluded.

In other Great Lakes Express news, it was announced today that Great Lakes Express has taken delivery of two Dash 8 Q200 aircraft and they are expected to be placed in Grand Rapids Michigan.  This completes the current order of Dash 8 aircraft Great Lakes Express has with the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.  It is expected however that the airline plans on an order of eight more before the end of 2010 or sometime in the first quarter of 2011.

Premier West today announced they have become the number one passenger air carrier between Phoenix Arizona and Las Vegas Nevada.  The Great Lakes International West Coast division is now carrying more passengers than the two legacy carriers United Airlines and Delta Airlines.  Paul Herman (Director of Operations) stated “this is due to our excellent service, low price and our best in the business on time ratios”.  Paul talked about how the 757 has increased service, “with the addition of our 757-200 aircraft we are flying twice the number of passengers per flight and our numbers continue to rise as does our profitability.  We still have a lot to work on out west, Phoenix and Las Vegas are only two cities, we have many more to go”.

August 1, 2010
Wichita, Kansas

Great Lakes International has taken possession of (2) two Boeing 757-200 on behalf of Premier West Airlines which is based in Phoenix Arizona.  The airline received the two aircraft after final testing and avionics upgrades where performed in Everett Washington.  The two aircraft were reportedly flown to Wichita this past Thursday and have completed their transition to Premier West colors.  The airline stated that the original seating arrangements were 200 seats (two classes).  Premier West has however converted the airliners into one class configuration with 220 seats, 14 less than a standard one class configuration.  The adjustment down will allow for several more inches of leg room in the passenger cabin.  Paul Herman (Director of Operations for Great Lakes International) stated that the new airliners will be able to carry the same amount of passengers as two 737 aircraft on the same routes.  Paul also said that the huge advantage will be the amount of cargo the airliners can carry, that is where our largest profits will be seen.  He also stated his “vision” of what the airline will do for the company:

“When most people think of the 757 they think of non-stop flights across the country or flights to Hawaii.  This is not what we will see with our fleet of 757-200’s.  We will focus on high capacity routes such as Phoenix to Las Vegas, Los Angeles to San Francisco and so on.  The aircraft that are currently on those routes will be moved elsewhere to expand Premier West service.  We also plan on expanding our connection service between Premier West and Premier North”.

Premier West expects to have the two new aircraft in service this week.

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.