Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne) has reportedly been given the go-ahead by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reduce the number of seats in several of its Beech 1900Ds by 10 thereby allowing the airline to operate the aircraft under Part 135 rules.

According to the EASflights blog, the move now permits Great Lakes Airlines to operate the flights as nine-seaters thereby circumventing new FAA regulations requiring all active First Officers to hold both an Air Transport Pilot Rating (ATP) and 1500 hours of flying time.

Among the destinations that will see the new 9-seater services are: Alliance, Chadron, Dodge City, Hays and McCook.

While only two aircraft are believed to have been reconfigured thus far, the change will give the struggling carrier more flexibility in terms of luring pilots to fly with them.

However, it remains to be seen whether or not the FAA will sanction this development.