Regional airline Great Lakes Aviation recently ceased operations after 40 years and has begun implementing employee layoffs. The airline operated domestic scheduled and charter services with small turboprop aircraft in parts of the West and Midwest.
The airline was severely impacted by the 2015 revision of Flight Officer Qualifications, which required first officers to possess Airline Transport Pilot certifications and increased the number of flight-experience hours necessary for newly hired pilots.
Over the past three years, the airline suspended flights to small cities and flew less than a dozen routes this month.
“As unprecedented numbers of major airline pilots reach mandatory retirement age, those airlines are hiring regional airline pilots at a rate that outpaces the supply of new pilots entering the pipeline,” Faye Malarkey Black, Regional Airline Association president, said. “A pilot’s lifetime earnings are higher than ever, and the ROI (return on investment) on training is excellent – better than doctors and lawyers. Unfortunately, most Americans lack the wealth or ability to secure private loans needed to access this career in the first place.”
Pilots spend as much as $200,000 on their education.
The airline has not filed for bankruptcy and hopes to sell its assets. On its website, it gives instructions on how passengers can request a refund.