A dozen legislators are making early preparations for the time when production of Boeing's popular 737 winds down at the company's Renton plant.

Anticipating a competition like Boeing created for the assembly site of the 787 Dreamliner, legislators are already talking about what tax breaks, worker training initiatives and infrastructure improvements will keep single-aisle jetliner here. Washington won the 787 competition five years ago amidst strong competition from other states.

Meeting at a Sea-Tac hotel this week, the lawmakers and industry officials discussed how to keep Washington competitive with aggressive southern states and foreign sites where wages are lower and state-paid incentives are higher.

They'll have a few years to lay their plans. Boeing has delayed the introduction of a 737 successor until about 2020 because earlier plans to build a follow-on plane failed to produce the kinds of economic savings that would have been worth the multi-billion investment needed to create a 737 successor.

Southwest Airlines will drop two of its four daily flights from Seattle to Chicago's Midway Airport and one of four daily flights from Sea-Tac to Denver as part of a "route optimization" plan effective Nov. 2.

The Seattle flight schedule deletions were part of a system-wide schedule readjustment that Southwest announced today.

Under that scheme, Southwest is eliminating 31 underperforming flights but adding 40 new ones.

In the Seattle-Chicago non-stop market, Southwest faces United and American, which both have hubs at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and Alaska, which has a hub at Sea-Tac.

In the Denver market, it faces competition from United and Frontier, who both have a hub in the Mile-High City and Alaska, whose headquarters are in SeaTac.

Southwest is one a few airlines adding to its schedule instead of shrinking it.

The Dallas-based low-cost carrier is cutting back flights where it faces strong competition or weak demand and adding flights where it sees weakened competitors or growing demand.

Southwest is particularly emphasizing new flights at Denver where its two main competitors, United and Frontier, are in financial difficulties. Southwest is adding a net of 20 more daily flights at Denver.

United has just emerged from bankruptcy reorganization and has unsuccessfully sought to merge with Continental and US Airways. The Chicago-headquartered United is grounding dozens of its planes and laying off 950 pilots.

Frontier is in bankruptcy reorganization. It recently announced that it will sell off 11 of its 60 relatively new Airbus aircraft.

"Free" frequent flier trips are about to enter the same historic time warp as inflight meals, no-charge second checked bags and free airline phone reservations.

Delta Air Lines today announced it will begin charging a $25 fuel surcharge on domestic and Canadian flights earned with mileage plan miles and $50 on international mileage plan flights beginning Aug. 15.

Delta follows US Airways with extra charges of frequent flier mile redemption. US Airways will charge a $25 to $50 processing surcharge for frequent flier flights booked on or after Aug. 6. American Airlines is already charging a $5 processing fee for miles redemption.

Most airlines also charge an extra fee for booking frequent flier flights over the phone and for flights booked with a few weeks of the flight.

Taxes and security fees are also added to the frequent flier tab.

International Lease Finance Corp., the world's largest aircraft lessor, says it plans to buy 150 single-aisle aircraft from both Boeing Co. and its rival, Airbus.

The Los Angeles-based ILFC may announce those orders soon at the Farnborough Air Show in England.

The present financial and fuel crisis in the airline industry could provide ILFC with a unique opportunity: satisfy airlines' need to replace their gas guzzlers with more efficient new aircraft without having to spend their precious cash.

If ILFC's timing is right, it could negotiate better prices with the aircraft makers who are seeing their order books shrink.

In anticipation of summer travel season, U.S. Customs and Border Protection sent out a few tips today on how to cross the Canadian border quickly and safely.

First U.S. and Canadian citizens are now required to present proof of citizenship and identity to enter the United States at land and sea ports of entry. This can include a passport, trusted traveler program card (NEXUS), or a birth certificate with a driver’s license.

Travelers 18 and under can present just a birth certificate.

More handy tips:

- Take a look at the "Know Before You Go" portion of the U.S. Customs Web site to avoid fines and penalties.

- Have your citizenship and identity documents ready for inspection as you cross and be prepared to declare all the items you acquired abroad. Also hang up your cell phone before you get to the inspection booth.

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Burger King has sold out of a limited-edition, super-fancy hamburger it made available to Londoners, according to Forbes. The cost? $185 How many days did it take to sell out? Just two.

Here are some additional details from the Forbes story on what the chain restaurant dubbed simply The Burger:

The secret to the meat's delectable taste? "Its massaged Japanese Wagyu beef," Dowding said.

The burger, which looks similar to a regular whopper, is made out of ingredients from seven countries, from Japan to France.

Some restaurateurs dismissed the burger, spiced with organic white wine and pink Himalayan rock salt, as a "marketing stunt," comparing it with similar products launched by department stores like Selfridges and its 85 pound ($168.84) sandwich and Peter Jones's 50 pound ($99.31) cup of coffee, pre-digested by a Civet cat.

But David Kisilevsky, vice president of marketing at Burger King, said "the burger is aimed at aficionados looking for the ultimate burger taste experience."