Portland’s International Airport is the best among the country’s 30 busiest airports, according to a new Zagat survey.

The Portland airport won a rating of 22.93 on a 30-point scale. Zagat surveyed 5,895 frequent fliers and travel agents who made 97,600 flights to develop its ratings.

Portland edged out Tampa International Airport, last year’ s winner, for top honors. Tampa was second on this year’s list with a 21.15 rating. Rounding out the top five were Detroit Wayne County, Orlando International and Minneapolis-St. Paul International.

Sea-Tac Airport was rated ninth in the survey with a 17.17 rating. That rating …

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Air India and US Airways have told planemakers Boeing and Airbus they’re deferring deliveries of dozens of planes until the economy returns to health.

Air India today said it has told Boeing it will defer delivery of three 777-300ERs until after 2010 and will seek delays in the delivery schedule for 27 787 Dreamliners it now has on order.

The company, which is seeking aid from the Indian government to keep flying, also said it plans to lease three new Boeing 777-200LRs to other airlines rather than continuing to operate the planes itself.

The business boom that Air India …

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United Airlines reportedly has narrowed its focus for its first new aircraft order in more than a decade to the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350XWB.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the Chicago-based carrier may order 25 of one of those aircraft before year’s end and take options on 75 more.

The United order would be a big win for either Boeing or Airbus in a year when aircraft orders are the leanest they’ve been in decades.

United is looking for an aircraft to replace its mid-sized fleet of Boeing 767s, now more than 20 years old.

The …

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Tara Mattina, port spokeswoman, sent this advisory this morning:

People in Northeast Tacoma, Fife and on the Tideflats might hear a boom this morning as Port of Tacoma contractors use light explosives on the former Kaiser Aluminum site on the east side of the Blair Waterway.

A licensed explosives technician is scheduled mid morning to detonate a charge to break off a two-inch steel pipe in a water well about 750 feet below the ground. This work is in preparation for decommissioning deep wells on the site that once provided water to the former aluminum plant.

Visitors will be kept …

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One Tacoma city councilmember said Tuesday said if the council amends its agreement with a developer to allow an office tenant instead of a retail one, it could leave the perception that the city is interfering with private competition.

After a long search, the state decided a week ago to lease 33,000 square feet in Pacific Plaza, 1250 Pacific Ave., for the Tacoma office of the attorney general. The building, a former crumbling, city-owned parking garage, was renovated into the retail-parking-office space through a public-private partnership.

The agreement between the city and Pacific Plaza LLC requires the entire first floor to be used for “commercial retail activity.” But to accommodate the attorneys general, the owner needs to use some of the first floor for office space. Owners Dan Putnam and Tom Absher have asked the city to renegotiate the agreement to allow for that.

Tacoma City Councilman Jake Fey raised concerns in Tuesday’s regular study session. He said in an interview afterward that amending the agreement after the state had made its decision could leave other downtown landlords who were competing for the space with the impression that the city anointed the winner.

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An airline that provides commuter service between Seattle’s Boeing Field and Portland has ousted its chief executive.

Chief Executive Kent Craford has been replaced by Chairman John Beardsley, according to the Portland Business Journal.

The airline said the change of command will not affect service to and from Boeing Field. The airline also provides air service to Pendleton, Newport and Astoria in Oregon and to four Arkansas communities from Memphis.

Ruston residents will get a holiday reprieve Wednesday from construction work that has closed the Ruston Tunnel to cars for the last two weeks.

But the tunnel is scheduled to close again next week for more construction activity at the site of the former Asarco copper smelter.

The tunnel is scheduled to reopen at 5 p.m. Wednesday after two weeks of utility and storm water construction work at the site, but the barricades will go up again Monday as work resumes, said the developers of Point Ruston, a billion-dollar mixed use project on the old smelter site.

That second closure …

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Metropolitan Market will close its Dash Point store Dec. 31, the upscale supermarket chain has announced.

The store at South 312th Street and Dash Point Road is the least successful of the Seattle-based chain’s seven stores, the company said.

Opened in 2004, the Dash Point market has not met its sales targets over the last five years, the company said.

The 65 employees at the Dash Point store have been offered jobs at other Metropolitan Market locations. The company is opening a new store in Kirkland next year. The nearest Metropolitan Market to the closing store is in Tacoma’s Proctor …

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