Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne) has from February 1, suspended its Essential Air Services (EAS) flights out of its Minneapolis St. Paul International hub to Devils Lake, Fort Dodge, Huron, Ironwood, Jamestown Regional, Mason City and Thief River Falls citing a severe shortage of pilots. Great Lakes also cancelled its routes from Denver International to Clovis Municipal, Moab, Pueblo and Vernal from the same date. It only continues service from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Pierre and Watertown, SD. The regional airline says the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) recent decision to revise upwards regulations requiring pilots for small airlines to have a minimum of 1'500 hours of experience - up from 500 hours in years past - has seen many prospective new pilots flocking to larger carriers, where pay is better. To worsen Great Lakes' situation further, the FAA has now awarded SkyWest Airlines (OO, St. George Municipal) an EAS contract to serve Devils Lake and Jamestown in North Dakota out of Denver International. In its ruling, the FAA said it had taken into consideration both communities' feedback regarding Great Lakes' current quality of service which it said, had come under increasing criticism for its poor reliability and cost-effectiveness.