$400 awarded to each Alaska Airlines employee

Alaska Airlines paid $400 to each of its nearly 10,000 employees in 2005 under a new incentive program for achieving high customer satisfaction.

In eight of the 12 months of 2005, 90 percent of passengers surveyed onboard Alaska flights rated employees' attitudes "very good" or "excellent," according to a statement on Alaska's internal Web site. The program, introduced in January 2005, pays $50 to each employee for each month that the 90 percent goal is achieved.

But Alaska employees received no bonuses for on-time performance. Workers would have received $50 for each month the carrier ranked among the top six U.S. airlines.

Alaska is resetting its on-time goals for 2006. Rather than compare itself with other airlines, it set targets for the percentage of flights it expects to arrive on time each month this year, from a low of 72 percent in December to a high of 86 percent in September.

Stock declines

on earnings report

Vancouver, Wash.-based Nautilus, the maker of Bowflex, StairMaster and other fitness equipment, said preliminary fourth-quarter earnings didn't meet company forecasts. The news pushed its stock down 24.9 percent Wednesday.

Sales in the period were $179 million to $183 million and earnings were 7 cents to 12 cents a share, Nautilus said. The company had forecast sales of $210 million and earnings of 44 cents to 48 cents a share.

Nautilus experienced "growing pains" in its manufacturing that delayed production introductions, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregg Hammann said. Nautilus still forecasts 15 percent to 20 percent annual sales growth and 20 percent to 30 percent annual earnings growth.

Nautilus shares fell $4.62 to $13.91Wednesday.

to begin in June

Amazon.com plans to broadcast on its Web site an original show hosted by Bill Maher and featuring performers and authors touting new releases, which will be for sale at the online retailer.

The 12-episode webcast series, which will begin airing June 1, is the first offering in what the Seattle company says is a broader plan to add more original programming to its Web site.

Analyst Steve Weinstein with Pacific Crest Securities said he's not sure how many people will start visiting Amazon's site just for such content, or how much difference it will make to the company's bottom line.

Compiled from Seattle Times staff, Bloomberg News and The Associated Press

Nation/World

Pacific Northwest

Results restated

after errors found

Flow International said it will restate three years of results because of accounting errors caused by inexperienced personnel.

Kent-based Flow, the world's biggest maker of water jets used for cutting, disclosed plans to restate results for fiscal 2003, 2004 and 2005, which ended in April, as well as the first two quarters of fiscal 2006, in a regulatory filing Wednesday.

The company misstated income tax and other expenses related to a partly owned unit, Flow Autoclave Systems, the filing said. Flow sold its interest in the unit in a transaction that closed Oct. 31, and the errors won't affect future results, the company said.

Flow's stock fell 30 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $8.94 Wednesday.

GE to supply

747-8 engines

Boeing announced Wednesday the supplier team for the engines and propulsion systems on its new jumbo jet derivative, the 747-8.

GE will be the exclusive engine supplier, providing a version of the new GEnx engine to be used on the 787.

Middle River Aircraft Systems of Baltimore will develop and produce the thrust reverser system and supply it directly to Boeing, rather than to GE. Spirit AeroSystems of Wichita, Kan., will design and build the nacelles and struts.

Boeing will build the engine mounts in Portland and the aft pylon fairing in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Boeing's Propulsion Systems Division in Seattle will do engine and strut build-up.

Chinese company

appeals court order

A Chinese company locked in a trademark dispute with Starbucks has appealed a court order to change its name for sounding too similar to that of the world's top specialty coffee retailer.

Jiang Xian, lawyer for Shanghai Xingbake Cafe, accused Seattle-based Starbucks of trying to bully a competitor to secure its growth in the Chinese coffee market.

Starbucks said Wednesday that it would defend itself against an appeal.

Shanghai's No. 2 Intermediate People's Court ruled earlier this month that Xingbake engaged in "illegitimate competition" by using the same Chinese name as Starbucks and imitating the design of its coffee houses.

Spokane seeks

more business

Spokane has set up shop in Seattle to recruit businesses along the Interstate 5 corridor that might want to expand or move to Eastern Washington.

The Spokane Area Economic Development Council announced Wednesday that William "Bill" Stewart will head its new business recruiting effort in Seattle. The council signed an agreement for office space in the Seattle offices of Northwest Venture Associates, which has offices in Seattle and Spokane.

Stewart was hired this month to focus on Western Washington businesses that are contemplating moving out of the state, as well as businesses in Canada and Oregon that are considering moving to the state.

Oppenheimer

resigns from board

Deanna Oppenheimer, the former head of Washington Mutual's retail bank, has resigned from the board of Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber, citing scheduling conflicts and time constraints because of her new job as chief executive officer of UK Retail Banking at Barclays Group in London.

She joined Barclays last fall and was promoted in December to CEO of her unit. Before she left WaMu, she had been considered a possible successor to WaMu CEO Kerry Killinger.

Poston chosen

VP of finance

Targeted Genetics, a Seattle biotechnology company, said Wednesday it has appointed David Poston vice president of finance, chief financial officer and treasurer. He has been CFO since October and with the company since 1999.

Nation and World

Stock tumbles

nearly 5 percent

Google, among the most-loved stocks on Wall Street, had its steepest decline in more than a year after two analysts recommended selling the shares and Yahoo! reported disappointing results.

"The stock is overvalued, and I think Yahoo! is an indication of change," said Scott Devitt, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. "What they offer the consumer is outstanding," though the stock price "is very high."

Google shares dropped $22.20, or 4.8 percent, to $444.91 Wednesday, the steepest decline since November 2004.

Company agrees

to $2 billion buyout

After 34 years as a family-run business, Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse has agreed to a $2.06 billion cash buyout offer from private equity firm Bain Capital Partners.

Under terms of the deal announced Wednesday, Bain Capital of Boston will pay $45.50 for each Burlington share, a 2 percent premium to its closing price Tuesday. Burlington shares fell 45 cents to close at $44.13 Wednesday.

Headquarters for the 367-store apparel retailer will remain in Burlington, N.J., but the four family members in top management, including 79-year-old founder and Chief Executive Monroe Milstein, will exit the company.

Burlington said its board of directors has approved the proposed deal, which still requires shareholder approval.

Company says

BlackBerry vital

Research In Motion (RIM) says its BlackBerry e-mail device is so critical that a court-ordered shutdown of U.S. service could threaten public safety and business productivity.

The Canadian company is trying to avoid a possible injunction, the result of a long-running infringement case won by NTP.

In a filing Tuesday in federal court in Richmond, Va., RIM argued that there is "exceptional public interest" in keeping BlackBerrys beeping. The idea of exempting government and emergency users from an injunction — which NTP has suggested — would result in errors, RIM said.

In a filing of its own Tuesday, NTP asked U.S. District Judge James Spencer for a permanent injunction, noting that RIM users have plenty of alternatives, and it would give them 30 days to make their moves.

Compiled from Bloomberg News, Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press