The Biz Buzz

The News Tribune Business Team will keep you updated on what's happening in the South Sound and beyond. Check here for news about economic development, aerospace, shopping and much more.

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Contributors

Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.

C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.

John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.

Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.

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Get the most up-to-date news, insights and analysis of Tacoma, Pierce County and South Puget Sound business.
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Posted by John Gillie @ 02:50:01 pm

Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines told employees today it could be forced to lay off workers or shut down the airline as early as Dec. 1 unless it can find new cash to fund its operations.

Sun Country, whose hub is Minneapolis, flies twice-daily from Sea-Tac to the Twin Cities among several major routes.

The airline's operations tend to diminish in the fall when summertime vacation traffic declines and before its wintertime flights to tropical destinations begin feeding it more passengers.

The airline had planned to get a short-term loan from its owner, Tom Petters, to bridge the expense gap, but Petters resigned as CEO because of an unconnected investigation by federal investigators of other of his business dealings.

The airline last week had told employees it would begin withholding 50 percent of their salaries to help sustain it operations. It promised to repay those deferred payments this winter when business picks up.

Sun Country has new competition in the Seattle-Minneapolis market this fall. Alaska Airlines will begin flying to the Twin Cities twice daily on Oct. 26.

Southwest Airlines is also entering the Minneapolis-St.Paul market for the first time next spring. Southwest will initially just serve Chicago's Midway Airport from Minneapolis, but could expand that service to other cities.

Categories: General, Aerospace, Labor, Tourism