MedStar cutting wages, closing base
Northwest MedStar, an air-ambulance service that operates in Washington, North Idaho, western Montana and northeastern Oregon, is cutting wages and closing a base to try to improve its finances.
The service lost $2 million last year and is on track to lose $1.5 million this year, said Steve Becker, spokesman for Inland Northwest Health Services, the Spokane-based nonprofit that operates MedStar. INHS is a consortium of Sacred Heart, Deaconess, Holy Family and Valley hospitals.
“The same patients who are having a difficult time paying for their hospital care are finding it hard to pay for critical care air ambulance transportation,” said Nancy Vorhees, MedStar’s chief operating officer, in a press release.
MedStar, which employs 75, will close a seasonal base located in Moses Lake and consolidate that service with a year-round MedStar base in the Tri-Cities. The organization also has a base in Spokane.
In addition, management and administrative staff will take a 3 percent pay cut, and employees no longer will be eligible for extra pay for flying time or travel time to and from work, Becker said. The organization will also look at cross-training nurses to care for both pediatric and adult patients, he said.
INHS also operates St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute and other organizations.
America West, US Airways finalize merger
Tempe, Ariz. America West and US Airways finalized their union Tuesday, combining to form the nation’s fifth-largest domestic carrier.
“Today we start a new chapter in aviation history,” Doug Parker, chief executive of the newly combined company, said in a news release.
Although the airlines can now operate as one carrier, they said passengers should continue to book directly with each airline as they did before the deal closed.
The airlines are still operating separate Web sites and still have two reservation systems. Flight crews, maintenance and safety procedures for each airline will also remain separate for some time.
The goal of the deal was to form a stronger airline that would compete better with lower-cost rivals such as Southwest Airlines Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp.
Boeing supplier to resume full operations
Wichita, Kan. Spirit Aerosystems Inc. told its 8,600 employees in Kansas and Oklahoma on Tuesday that it would soon resume full operations if striking Machinists at Boeing Co. ratify their contract.
Spirit Aerosystems — the company formed after Onex Corp. bought out Boeing’s commercial operations in Wichita, Tulsa, Okla., and McAlester, Okla. — had been working shortened three-day weeks since 18,400 Boeing Machinists walked off the job.
Boeing is the company’s sole customer.
A tentative deal reached by Boeing and its Machinists union goes to a vote Thursday.
If that vote passes, Spirit Aerosystems workers will continue to work three days for the remainder of this week, executive vice president Ron Brunton told employees in a memo. That will increase to four work days next week and five work days the following week.
Intel processors to be used in BlackBerries
San Jose Research in Motion Ltd. said Tuesday it will use Intel Corp.’s cellular microprocessors in upcoming BlackBerry devices as it tries to boost performance without sacrificing battery life.
The widely expected move is expected to improve the BlackBerry’s ability to handle multimedia and Internet applications. The gadget is best known for its thumb keyboard and wireless messaging and some models also have phone and handheld computer capabilities.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has chosen the Intel PXA9xx cellular processor, code named “Hermon.” The first BlackBerry products with the new technology would be available later this year, said RIM President Mike Lazaridis. No pricing was announced.
Delay at lifting beef ban angers lawmakers
Washington Lawmakers reacted angrily Tuesday to Japan’s delay on lifting a ban on American beef.
Japan’s Food Safety Commission said Monday it needs more time to weigh U.S. safeguards. The Japanese government agreed last fall to lift the ban but still has not done so.
The Senate Agriculture Committee chairman, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said the stalling “will sorely tempt economic trade action against Japan.” Last week, the Senate voted to keep Kobe beef off U.S. menus if Japan won’t lift its ban.
SEC expands probe of maker of Tasers
Phoenix The Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into stun-gun maker Taser International Inc. is now a formal investigation with an expanded scope, the company said Tuesday.
Shares tumbled 12 percent after the announcement.
The company had previously said the SEC was looking into claims Taser has made about safety studies for its stun guns and has also been looking into a $1.5 million, end-of-year sale of stun guns to a firearms distributor in Prescott. Some stock analysts have questioned the deal because it appeared to inflate sales to meet annual projections.
The formal probe is now also examining the possibility that outsiders acquired internal company information to manipulate the stock price, Taser said in a news release.