If you searched “Is Great Lakes going out of business,” you are not alone — and the confusion is understandable. Several completely unrelated companies share the “Great Lakes” name. When one made headlines for shutting down, people started worrying about all of them.
This article breaks down exactly which “Great Lakes” company stopped operating, what happened, why it happened, and what you should do if you are a customer or stakeholder of any Great Lakes entity.
There Are Several Companies Named “Great Lakes” — Here Is How to Tell Them Apart
Before anything else, you need to know which company you are actually asking about. Here are the four main ones causing confusion:
- Great Lakes Airlines — A regional carrier based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This is the company at the center of the “going out of business” searches.
- Great Lakes Energy — An electric cooperative serving customers in Michigan. It is currently operating normally, with active outage tools and services on its website.
- Great Lakes Mall — A shopping center in Ohio. Its owner, Washington Prime Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021 due to COVID-related financial pressure. The mall’s owner restructured — the mall itself did not simply close.
- Great Lakes shipping — Various vessels and operators on the Great Lakes. These are individual ships and companies, not one single business. Some ships face retirement, but that is different from a company shutting down entirely.
Most online confusion comes from mixing these four categories together. Each one has a completely different story.
Great Lakes Airlines Stopped All Scheduled Flights in March 2018
This is the confirmed fact at the core of the question. Great Lakes Airlines was a small regional carrier that operated for more than 40 years. It served routes in the western United States, particularly smaller communities that depended on it for air travel.
In March 2018, the airline announced it was discontinuing all scheduled passenger flight operations. The last scheduled flight departed on March 26, 2018. The company described the shutdown as indefinite — not a temporary pause or seasonal break.
Customers who held tickets for flights after March 26 were told they were eligible for full refunds. They were directed to contact their booking source or reach out to the airline directly.
Operationally speaking, Great Lakes Airlines has not run a scheduled passenger flight since that date. For all practical purposes, it stopped flying and never came back.
The Airline Did Not File for Bankruptcy — and That Difference Matters
Here is where a lot of reporting got it wrong. Great Lakes Airlines explicitly stated that it had not entered bankruptcy when it stopped flying. That distinction is important, and it affects what customers and creditors can expect.
Suspending operations means a company stops doing what it does — in this case, flying passengers. It does not mean the company went through court-supervised debt restructuring.
Bankruptcy works differently. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, for example, lets a company keep operating while it renegotiates its debts under court protection. Washington Prime Group, the owner of Great Lakes Mall, did exactly this in 2021. It filed for Chapter 11 and continued managing its mall properties while it worked through its finances. That is restructuring, not a full shutdown.
A company can also stop all activity without ever filing for bankruptcy. It can simply cease operations, leave assets idle, or sell them privately. That appears to be closer to what Great Lakes Airlines did. The company confirmed it was suspending flight operations but stated it was not in bankruptcy proceedings.
For customers and employees, the day-to-day experience of an operations suspension can feel exactly like a bankruptcy. But the legal process and your rights as a creditor or employee are different depending on which path a company takes.
Why Great Lakes Airlines Shut Down
The shutdown was not random. Several structural pressures built up over years and made it financially unsustainable to keep flying.
Pilot Staffing Was a Major Problem
Federal rules require new airline pilots to have at least 1,500 flight hours before they can fly for a commercial carrier. For large airlines, this is manageable. For a small regional operator like Great Lakes, it made recruiting expensive and difficult. The pool of qualified pilots willing to work for smaller regional pay was shrinking.
Thin Margins on Small Routes
Great Lakes Airlines served Essential Air Service markets — remote communities that rely on federal subsidies to maintain scheduled air service. These routes carry fewer passengers and generate less revenue. Operating costs do not drop proportionally just because a route is small, which squeezes margins hard.
Dependence on Federal Subsidies
Because the airline depended heavily on Essential Air Service funding, it was exposed to any regulatory or budget changes affecting that program. That kind of dependence leaves little room for error when costs rise or funding shifts.
Broader Industry Consolidation
Throughout the 2010s, larger regional carriers grew stronger and absorbed more routes. Smaller operators like Great Lakes found it harder to compete for both passengers and pilots. These pressures did not appear overnight — they compounded over several years until continuing operations was no longer viable.
What This Meant for Customers, Employees, and Small Communities
The shutdown had real consequences for real people.
Ticket Holders
Anyone with a booking for a flight after March 26, 2018 was eligible for a full refund. The airline directed customers to their original booking source — whether that was a travel agency, online platform, or direct booking — to request the refund.
If you still have an unresolved refund claim from that period, your best step now is to check with your credit card company about dispute options, since the original refund window has long passed.
Employees
The SMART Union confirmed the shutdown affected workers across the airline’s operations. Staff who had been with the company through its 40-plus years of service lost their jobs when flights stopped. Regional airline jobs are already specialized, which makes transitions harder for affected workers.
Small Communities
The communities that depended on Great Lakes Airlines for connectivity lost scheduled air service. For remote towns without nearby major airports, this is not a minor inconvenience. It affects business travel, medical access, and local tourism. Some of these communities had to find alternative Essential Air Service carriers after Great Lakes stopped flying.
How to Check If Any “Great Lakes” Company Is Actually at Risk
If you use a service or have money tied to any Great Lakes entity, here is how to verify its actual status quickly:
- Look for official press releases. Real shutdowns and bankruptcies almost always come with an official statement. Check the company’s website and look for announcements on PR Newswire or Business Wire.
- Check court records. Bankruptcy filings are public. You can search the PACER federal court system for any Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 filing linked to a company name.
- Read union statements. If a company has unionized workers, the union typically issues a statement when operations are suspended or jobs are at risk. These are often more direct than corporate communications.
- Look at the company’s website activity. A company still operating normally will have active service pages, contact options, and recent updates. A shuttered company’s site often goes dark or stops updating.
- Call or email directly. If you are a customer with money at stake, contact the company through its official channels before assuming anything.
For broader business news and context on situations like this, OpenBizMedia covers business events in plain language that helps readers understand what is actually happening and why.
What Readers Often Get Wrong About “Going Out of Business”
The phrase “going out of business” gets used loosely, and that causes real confusion. Here is a quick way to think about it:
- Suspended operations — The company stops functioning but has not gone to court. Great Lakes Airlines is this example.
- Chapter 11 bankruptcy — The company keeps running while restructuring its debts under court supervision. Washington Prime Group is this example.
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy — The company fully liquidates. Assets are sold off to pay creditors. This is the closest thing to truly “going out of business” in a legal sense.
- Asset-level decisions — A specific ship gets retired, a store closes, or a route is dropped. The overall company continues. Great Lakes shipping discussions often fall into this category.
Each situation requires a different response from customers and stakeholders. Knowing which one applies helps you act correctly instead of panicking over the wrong thing.
Final Summary
Great Lakes Airlines stopped all scheduled passenger flights on March 26, 2018, after more than 40 years in operation. It was not a bankruptcy — the company explicitly stated it had not filed for bankruptcy. It was an operations suspension driven by pilot shortages, thin margins, subsidy dependence, and broader industry pressure on small regional carriers.
Great Lakes Energy, the Michigan electric cooperative, is operating normally. Great Lakes Mall’s owner restructured through Chapter 11 in 2021 without the mall itself simply closing. Great Lakes shipping discussions are about individual vessels, not one corporate entity shutting down.
If you had tickets with Great Lakes Airlines, the refund process has long since passed. Your best option now is to check with your credit card provider. If you are a customer of any other Great Lakes entity, check that company’s own communications directly before drawing conclusions from unrelated headlines.
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