Alaska Airlines and its regional sister air line, Horizon, have formed a new partnership with Korean Air to share flights and to grant mileage credit to frequent fliers on their mileage programs.

The new codeshare agreements mean that travelers on Korean Air to West Coast gateways can book Alaska and Horizon flights onward to other destinations under a Korean Air flight number.

The mileage program alliance means that Korean Air flight miles can be credited to Alaska Mileage Plan accounts. The alliance also allows members of each airline’s mileage plans to get free flights or upgrades on each

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Orlando’s AirTran Airways says it has reached an agreement with Boeing to defer the delivery of four Boeing 737-700 airliners from 2009 to 2015.

The airline made that announcement today as it reported a second-quarter loss of $13.5 million. The airline earlier had deferred delivery of 18 other Boeing 737s to 2013 and 2014.

The airline planes to cut its capacity in the rest of the year by seven to eight percent by canceling its least profitable flying.

Meanwhile in India, low-cost airline SpiceJet said it is negotiating with Boeing to defer develiveries of new 737s.

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Union longshore workers and a consortium of shippers and terminal operators have reached a tentative contract agreement covering 29 West Coast ports including Tacoma.

That agreement, if it is ratified by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, will prevent a feared work stoppage that would have been devastating the U.S. economy.

Neither side in the agreement would yet discuss specifics other than to say the new contract will have a six-year term.

There was also no word this morning about whether local issues such as the one that caused a

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Want to "Do the Puyallup" and get paid for it this year?

Here’s your chance. The Puyallup Fair needs nearly 3,000 seasonal workers to put on the yearly extravaganza, and they start accepting applications and conducting interviews on Aug. 6.

The jobs range from food service and retail sales to booth operators and barn workers. Most pay minimum wage ($8.07 per hour); a few skilled positions pay more.

Apply in person at the fair’s employment office, located on the north end of the fairgrounds, west of the Red Gate and next to the Sky Ride Station (9th

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The Champaign, Ill.-based company is bringing its sandwich operation to Pierce County.

I spotted one this week by the Tacoma Mall in the same parking lot as Red Robin. The chain has nearly 700 stores nationwide.

Here are some menu highlights:

Gourmet Veggie Club: Double provolone, real avocado spread, sliced cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, tomato, & mayo. (Try it on my 7-grain whole wheat bread. This veggie sandwich is world class!) Calories: 855

The J.J. Gargantuan: This sandwich was invented by Jimmy John’s brother Huey. It’s huge

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Comcast will hook you up with a Wii game console if you agree to subscribe to digital-television from the company.

The cable provider lost some basic video customers in the first quarter and is looking to lure some back, with upgrades.

Here are the details: Customers who sign a two-year contract by Aug. 17 for Comcast’s Preferred Plus or Premier Triple Play packages, which cost about $130 to $160 each month, will receive a Wii system, the company announced today.

By my math that means you will have to commit to spending at least $3,120 on Comcast

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Don’t be alarmed if you see dozens of emergency vehicles speeding toward Sea-Tac Airport Wednesday morning.

They’ll be headed to the first large-scale mock crash exercise in 25 years at the airport.

The exercise will be staged on the soon-to-open third runway from 9 a.m. to noon. The third runway is on the airport’s west side. The exercise is not expected to interrup air travel.

The airport will use a mock-up aircraft fuselage to simulate the main body of the crashed aircraft and derelict cars to represent large pieces of debris from that aircraft.

As

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The efforts to squeeze more revenue out of the airline business model continued today with news of two new money-saving measures.

Emirates Airlines, the carrier that just announced a plan to buy nearly $12 billion worth of Airbus planes, said it is eliminating the printed version of its inflight magazine to save weight and fuel.

The magazine’s contents will be available on screen on the aircraft’s in-seat entertainment systems. Northwest Airlines and Japan Airlines have announced they will trim the size of their inflight publications but won’t eliminate them.

While eliminating the magazine will save only a

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