Pilots and flight instructors at Boeing’s Flight Training Services division have voted to join a union, the Airplane Manufacturing Pilots Association bargaining unit of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

SPEEA represents more than 22,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers in Washington, Oregon, Utah and California.

In a vote supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, pilots gave the union 48 ‘Yes’ and 11 ‘no’ votes. The expanded bargaining unit, which had already represented other Boeing pilots now includes 105 members.

The new union members are responsible for all technical, safety and flight standards, along with instructing …

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Average gas prices in Tacoma jumped by nearly a dime a gallon in the last week as national gas prices fell in the same period by more than a nickel.

After a fairly steady decline over the last month in Tacoma, prices jumped up again in this market to an average of $4.148 a gallon according to The News Tribune’s Gas Price Tracker/

Meanwhile, the national average for gasoline prices declined from $3.792 last week to $3.739 this week.

Analysts attribute the difference in price changes to the Northwest’s relatively isolated market.

Unlike many states in the East and Midwest, …

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Sea-Tac Airport next week will become the second airport in the country to offer active duty military members an expedited trip through pre-flight security checks.

Military on active duty or engaged in active drills will be allowed to move through the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck line at the airport’s north security check station behind the United and Alaska airlines counters beginning at 4 a.m. Tuesday, said the TSA.

Ordinarily, passengers cleared to enter the PreCheck line won’t have to remove their shoes, belts or light coats, said TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers. They won’t have to remove their laptops or their …

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Tacoma port commissioners today approved a contract for design work to equip one of its container terminals to handle the biggest container ships now envisioned.

The contract with BergerABAM calls for designing modifications to the port’s existing Pier 3 on the west side of the Blair Waterway north of East 11th street to handle container cranes that can service ships as big as 24 containers wide.

The biggest container ships now being built are the so-called “Triple E-Class” ships being constructed for Maersk Line in Korea. Each of those ships will carry 18,000 container units. The Maersk ships will carry …

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The European Institute for Creative Strategies and Innovation has named Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner the recipient of its grand prize for innovation.

The award was presented to Yves Galland, president of Boeing France in ceremonies in Paris.

“We are very proud to receiv this prestigious award which recognizes the 787′s amazing technological breakthrough,” said Galland. “We share this prize with the eight French companies providing critical products and systems onboard the Dreamliner as the entire international team and our customers around the world.”

Made mostly from composite materials, the 787 is a twin-engine, long-range, wide-bodied jetliner. The plane is assembled in …

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Passenger traffic will be unaffected this summer in spite of two runway closures scheduled at Sea-Tac Airport, the airport is telling its customers.

The airport will close two of its three runways for several weeks at a time, but not at the same time.

The airport plans to close its longest runway designated 16 Left – 34 Right from May 14 to June 20. That runway is the closest of the three to the airport terminal. The runway itself, completely reconstructed in 2009, won’t require repairs, but the adjacent taxiway will, said Perry Cooper, the airport’s spokesman.

During that …

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Slimmer seats installed on Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing jets will add an inch more legroom for coach passengers, the airline said today.

The new seats will be installed on new Boeing 737-900ER jets Alaska will receive from Boeing beginning this fall through 2014.

Built by German seatmaker Recaro, the leather-covered seats are slimmer, thus giving passenger an additional inch of legroom without reducing the capacity of the aircraft, the airline said.

The new seat design also moves the magazine pocket on the seatback upward to just under the tray table to make more room

…

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Taiwan’s EVA Air has finalized orders for three Boeing 777-300ER long-haul jetliners, Boeing announced today. EVA’s order also includes purchase rights for four additional 777s.

At list prices, the Everett-built jets are worth nearly $300 million each.

“The 777-300ER is the flagship of our long-haul fleet and will play an important role in growing our global operations,” said Chang Kuo-wei, president of EVA Air. “The highly efficient, technologically advanced airplane will enhance the premium flying experience for passengers and will also allow us to open new destinations around the world.”

EVA Air also announced plans to lease four more …

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