Great Lakes is a big boost for air travel in the Western UP of Michigan..specifically the Ironwood area which serves a surrounding population of between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Frontier, which used to land here was high priced and had terrible connecting flights..therefore, very few travelers used it. In contrast, Great Lakes' one hour flight to/from Mpls is a big improvement at a very competitive cost.

I'm Sorreeee, But am I missing something,what carrier has any frills at all??????

North Central Airlines at one time flew DC-9's out of Ironwood;how things have changed.Ironwood and other cities like it are lucky to have air service at all.This is the price of deregulation.A lot of people in smaller towns have lost air service.In the 1950's and 60's the US Government subsidised air service to smaller cities under the guise of airmail contracts.One or two passengers were all that boarded those DC-3's in some places.Which is better,flying in 19 seat aircraft or driving 4 hours to the Twin Cities to board a plane?

@ northhill, it's not just deregulation, but it's the changing marketplace. Airlines used to do "milk run" routes hopping at small cities between two large cities prior to dereg. Nobody would fly from Ironwood to MSP via stops in Rhinelander, Wausau, and Eau Claire, would they? Delta Connection wanted to get rid of the Saabs and fly CRJs to places like Brainerd and Bemidji. Those places can support maybe two CRJs a day during peak travel months, and things are tough with limited frequencies. Glad to see Great Lakes filling in the gaps left by DCX.

This is a good start but service is very spotty. I tried to find a fare from Thief River Falls to MSP but nothing is available until May 18. It would be nice to see a carrier pick up passengers from across MN and drop them off daily instead of once every 2 weeks.

'Great Lakes is the nation's largest carrier of Essential Air Service routes -- a program that guarantees flights to small towns. About 42 percent of its total revenue comes from government subsidies.' ---- I'm no conservative but that is completely unjustifiable. If you choose to live in a rural area, you should not be guaranteed regular air service. 'Essential Air Service' subsidies should be cut or drastically reduced, right up there with the oil companies.

twincitizen1: Agreed. We can thank (thankfully former) Transportation committe chairman Jim Oberstar for this example of gov't waste.

redorblue - You are right! Oberstar always saw money raining down from the heavens, but never thought how it would be paid back, just like the leader of this country now with trillions in debt to the Chinese who are running short on patience with this governments' borrowing practices from them. No wonder why they can demand their market insistance/contol in the US economy. You'll see more 'Made in China' on products you buy for a long, long time!!

Does anyone else find it odd that an airline that calls itself "Great Lakes" is based in Wyoming?

twincitizen1 - I don't understand your comment of people choosing to live in rural areas. You mean that everything should be within 494 in the twin cities? I didn't think we had room for farms, heavy manufacturing, etc. in the metro area let alone NINBYS who would whine about such industries in their back yard. Why should people uproot where they grew up just for air service (which is also used for medical reasons)? Where in the metro area can a 500 acre farm be located? I grew up in Minneapolis - but this comment seems very one sided.