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"Lifenet" redirects here. For the trampoline-like devices designed to "catch" persons jumping from tall buildings during an emergency, see Life net.
Air Methods Corporation
Company typePrivate
Nasdaq: AIRM
IndustryAir Services, Other
Founded1980; 44 years ago (1980)
Headquarters
Denver Technological Center
Greenwood Village, Colorado
,
United States
Key people
  • JaeLynn Williams (Chief executive officer
  • CEO)
  • David Portugal (Chief financial officer
  • CFO
  • Chris Myers (EVP) of Reimbursement and Strategic Initiatives
  • Chris Brady (general counsel)
  • Leo Morrissette (EVP of operations)
  • Joe Resnik (SVP of safety)
  • Stephanie Queen (SVP of Clinical Services)
RevenueIncrease US$511 million (FY 2009) [1]
Increase US$47.8 million (FY 2009)[1]
Increase US$29.0 million (FY 2009)[1]
Total assetsIncrease US$424 million (FY 2009)[2]
Total equityIncrease US$197 million (FY 2009)[2]
OwnerAmerican Securities
Number of employees
5,000
SubsidiariesFSS Airholdings
Rocky Mountain Holdings
Mercy Air Service
LifeNet
San Antonio AirLife
Tri-State CareFlight
Native Air
Websiteairmethods.com
Footnotes / references
2007 Annual Report

Air Methods Corporation is an American privately owned helicopter operator. The air medical division provides emergency medical services to over 100,000 patients every year. It operates in 48 states with air medical as its primary business focus[citation needed]. Its corporate headquarters are located in the Denver Technological Center, Greenwood Village, Colorado, in the Denver metropolitan area.

The company was founded by Roy Morgan and began air medical operations in 1980. From 1991 to 2017, the company was a publicly traded company under the NASDAQ ticker "AIRM." In 2017, it was acquired by private equity firm American Securities. [3]

In 2012, the company acquired its first helicopter tour operations, Sundance Helicopters, in Las Vegas, Nevada. A year later, Blue Hawaiian joined its tourism division. The company has more than 5,000 employees and operates a fleet of approximately 450 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

History

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In 1980, Roy Morgan founded Air Methods after a personal experience convinced him that properly equipped and staffed air medical service helicopters were a necessity.

Air Methods purchased CJ Systems Aviation Group, a leading provider of aeromedical transport, in October 2007.[4]

In 2011, Air Methods acquired Omniflight Helicopters, Inc., operating it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Omniflight Helicopters consisted of over 100 helicopters.[5]

In July 2011, Air Methods (Air Methods International, Ltd.) entered into a joint venture agreement with Basari Holding, AS and Anka Aerospace & Defense, LLC to form Helistar, AS. The joint venture company is headquartered in Ankara, Turkey.

In October 2012, Air Methods opened its state-of-the-art technologically advanced training center in Aurora, Colorado. Located near the corporate office, the 14,000-square-foot facility has simulation areas, learning classrooms and office space. Also in 2012, the company diversified into helicopter tourism.

In 2016, Air Methods acquired Tri-State Care Flight.[6]

In 2017, Air Methods was purchased by American Securities LLC.[3]

On October 24, 2023, Air Methods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming high interest rates and labor costs as part of its decision to file for bankruptcy. The company stated that it has plans to shed high amounts of debt, and that it would continue to operate normally during the bankruptcy process.[7]

On December 28, 2023, Air Methods would emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, successfully achieving its goal of eliminating around $1.7 billion of debt. The company stated that its assets were acquired by its lenders, releasing plans to inject $185 million into the company.[8]

Service models

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Air Methods provides services through three basic programs: Community-Based Service model (CBS), Hospital-Based Service model (HBS)[9] and Alternative-Delivery Model (ADM).[10] Under all three programs, Air Methods transports persons requiring intensive medical care from either the scene of an accident or general care hospitals, to trauma centers or tertiary care centers. Air Methods employees provide medical care to patients en route.

Corporate affairs

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Headquarters

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Its corporate headquarters are located in 62,124 square feet (5,771.5 m2) of space in the Denver Technological Center,[11] in Greenwood Village, Colorado, in the Denver metropolitan area.[12]

Its corporate headquarters were previously on the property of Centennial Airport in Dove Valley CDP, Colorado, United States in the Denver metropolitan area;[13][14] the headquarters used an Englewood, Colorado postal address.[13] The headquarters moved to the current location in May 2017, one month after it was acquired by American Securities LLC.[11]

Divisions and services

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United Rotorcraft, Air Methods' aerospace division, specializes in the design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology. The tourism division comprises Sundance Helicopters, Inc. and Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, which provide helicopter tours and charter flights in the Las Vegas/Grand Canyon region and Hawaii, respectively. Air Methods’ fleet of owned, leased or maintained aircraft features over 450 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.[15]

Rocky Mountain Holdings, LLC (RMH), Mercy Air Service, Inc. (Mercy Air), and LifeNet, Inc. (LifeNet) operate as wholly owned subsidiaries of Air Methods.[16]

United Rotorcraft designs, manufactures, and installs aircraft medical interiors and other aerospace or medical transport products.

The Direct Patient Logistics (DPL) transfer center is a division of Air Methods that coordinates transfers between hospitals and referring centers. It is the center point of coordination between all parties involved in the transfer process.[17]

AirCom is the dispatching/coordinating/and flight tracking division of Air Methods. It dispatches over 450 aircraft for Air Methods Corporation as well as dispatching and coordinating services for other agencies, including police departments, county departments, ambulance services, and other public service agencies.[18]

Along with dispatching aircraft, Air Methods has teamed up with Community Health Systems and sister company Quorum Health Systems to allow for hospitals owned by those companies to have a transport call center that they can use for ease of access in finding an aircraft. The program allows for the hospitals to call the communications center and pass off flight requests to a specialist so that doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff can focus more on patient care. The Transport Call Center took their first call from Big Bend Hospital in Alpine, Texas on November 12, 2011. From November 2011 to January 2015, the CHS/QHC Transport Call Center was located in Nashville, Tennessee. It was then relocated to the Air Methods Communications Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Aircraft

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A Bell 412 operated by Mercy Air, a subsidiary of Air Methods

Air Methods' fleet of helicopters includes:

Fixed-wing craft owned and/or operated through Air Methods:


Accidents

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  • In January 2005, an Air Methods helicopter crashed in Washington, D.C., resulting in two dead and one injured, and another crashed in Mississippi, killing one.[21]
  • On June 29, 2008, a Bell 407 medical helicopter operated by Air Methods collided with another medical helicopter in Arizona, killing all seven who were aboard both aircraft. Another Air Methods helicopter crashed in May in Wisconsin soon after taking off. Three people were killed in that accident: the pilot, flight doctor and flight nurse.[22]
  • On August 26, 2011 four people (three crew members and one patient) were killed when a LifeNet Eurocopter AS350 based at Rosecrans Airport and connected to Heartland Hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri crashed near Liberty, Missouri. Initial crash reports indicated it had run out of fuel. The helicopter had traveled 45 miles from St. Joseph to Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Missouri to pick up a patient. It did not refuel before traveling another 70 miles en route to its intended destination at Liberty Hospital. It was reported to be within a mile of landing for fuel at Midwest National Air Center in Mosby, Missouri (near Liberty) when it crashed.[23][24] In 2013 the NTSB received information indicating that texting may have been a contributing cause, making it the first time texting had been found to occur during a fatal air accident.[25]
  • On July 3, 2015, a Eurocopter AS350B3 medical helicopter operated by Air Methods crashed into a parking lot in Frisco, Colorado. The pilot was fatally injured, and the two flight nurses on board were seriously injured. The helicopter was destroyed by post-crash fire.[26]
  • On April 26, 2018, an Air Methods Corp Airbus Helicopters AS350B2 (N127LN), apparently operating on behalf of Ascension Wisconsin Spirit Medical Transport, was destroyed when it crashed near Hazelhurst, Wisconsin towards the end of a flight from Madison to Woodruff, Wisconsin. All three persons on board died in the crash.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Air Methods (AIRM) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
  2. ^ a b Air Methods (AIRM) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
  3. ^ a b "American Securities Completes Acquisition of Air Methods". Air Methods Press Release. Air Methods. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  4. ^ "Air Methods Completes Acquisition of FSS Airholdings, Inc., Parent Company of CJ Systems Aviation Group, Inc". Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  5. ^ Air Methods. "Air Methods acquires Omniflight" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  6. ^ "Medevac specialist Air Methods acquires Tri-State". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
  7. ^ "Air Methods Files Bankruptcy After Rates, Regulation Hit Profits". Bloomberg. October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Air Methods exits bankruptcy with $1.7 billion less debt". Reuters. December 28, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  9. ^ Ward, Corey (2011-10-14). "Air Methods' revenue boosted by hospital outsourcing". Denver Business Journal.
  10. ^ "Service Models". airmethods.com. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  11. ^ a b Miler, Ben (2017-05-25). "After sale is complete, Air Methods is moving its headquarters". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  12. ^ "Home". Air Methods. Retrieved 2018-09-14. Corporate Headquarters 5500 S. Quebec St. Suite 300 Greenwood Village, CO 80111
  13. ^ a b "Contact Us". Air Methods. Retrieved 2015-02-17. Corporate Headquarters 7211 S. Peoria Englewood, CO 80112 Air Methods' headquarters are located on the north side of Centennial Airport in Englewood
  14. ^ "http://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/GUBlock/st08_co/place/p0821330_dove_valley/DC10BLK_P0821330_001.pdf 2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Dove Valley CDP, CO]" (Archive). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on April 1, 2015.
  15. ^ Air Methods. "A Partner of Choice".
  16. ^ "Who We Are – Air Methods: The World's Largest Air Ambulance Operator". Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  17. ^ Air Methods. "DirectCall Transfer Center" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  18. ^ Air Methods. "AirCom Only center of its size and scope in the nation".
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Fleet". Air Methods. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "2013 Annual Report". Air Methods. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  21. ^ Gang, Duane W.; Lisa O'Neill-Hill; Paul LaRocco (2006-12-12). "Helicopters grounded : The number of crashes has increased in recent years, a federal study finds". Press-Enterprise. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-10-04. The pilot, nurse and paramedic of an air ambulance that crashed Sunday night in a foggy, hilly area near the summit of the Cajon Pass were an experienced crew, company officials and colleagues said Monday.
  22. ^ "Air Methods stock down after crash". Denver Business Journal. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  23. ^ "Crash investigation continues; victims identified". St. Joseph News-Press. 2011-08-27. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07.
  24. ^ "Fatal Air Methods accident in Missouri". Waypoint Magazine. 2011-08-30. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31.
  25. ^ Carl Franzen. "Texting while flying may have played role in fatal helicopter crash". The Verge. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  26. ^ "Aircraft Accident Report: Loss of Control at Takeoff Air Methods Corporation Airbus Helicopters AS350 B3e, N390LG". Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  27. ^ FlightGlobal.com-4/27/2018
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