Tom Davis of Puyallup became a fan of Sonic Drive-ins while visiting a relative in Oklahoma.

So, Monday morning, Davis dressed up in his gold and white Elvis get-up, donned the black pompadour wig and waved to folks driving by the grand opening of the South Hill Sonic.

Tom Davis of Puyallup thought the grand opening of the South Hill Sonic Drive-in warranted something festive. So he dressed as Elvis Monday and waved to passersby on Meridian Avenue.

"I love it," he said. "I have this perfectly good Elvis outfit so I figured I'd come out and welcome Sonic to the neighborhood."

Davis said he sometimes performs as Elvis for his church.

"If you want to cure your stage fright just stand out here for five hours like this," he said.

David Orem, owner of the Sonic franchse rights in the region, said Elvis showed up on his own accord this morning and has been entertaining the crowds and having fun.

"He sang a few verses to an old Elvis song for me and then we got a few pictures. Nice guy," Orem said.

Sea-Tac Airport largest airline is giving its passengers new flexibility to change their vacation plans to Mexico without penalty because of the outbreak of swine flu south of the border.

Alaska and its sister airline, Horizon Air, are waiving the customary $100 change fee for passengers altering their reservations to Mexico.

The change fee waiver applies to Alaska and Horizon Air customers who have booked flights to Mexico between now and May 20.

The airline is offering three alternatives for passengers whose flight reservations are within that time window:

* Change fees and additional fares will be waived if the rescheduled flight is booked in the original class of service between the same two cities as originally ticketed. The rescheduled travel must begin on or before May 20.

* For new travel after May 20, Alaska won't impose change fees, but additional fares will be collected if the cost of the seats new seats is more.

* Travelers who want to keep their travel dates, but want to change their destinations won't be required to pay a change fee, but will pay any difference between their old ticket price and the new ticket price.

The airline advised travelers to call its reservations number, 1-800-252-7522, to make those changes. The rules for the ticket changes are available on the airline's Web site, www.alaskaair.com

Alaska Air spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said "a number" of passengers have called to request changes, but she didn't yet have a specific number to release.

The airline is equipping its counter and gate personnel in Mexico City with gloves and surgical masks.

And the airline is removing and replacing all blankets and pillows used on Mexico flights after each flight. Planes used on Mexican flights are cleaned after returning to the U.S.

Those planes are also disinfected with an Environmental Protection Agency-approved anti-bacterial agent nightly, Egan said.

The air in the aircraft is filtered through an anti-bacterial HEPA filter during flight, she said.

Dan Voelpel is waiting in line at Sonic in Puyallup. Here's what he said on his Facebook page:

Dan Voelpel is in a queue at the South Hill Sonic Drive-in. Waiting for stall to open. Attendant says the wait could last 90 minutes. Traffic backed up at least 6 blocks in both directions on Meridian.

Starbucks says it has shut down 10 of its cafes in Mexico City in response to the swine flu outbreak. One of its employees in the city is also now being treated for flu symptoms, The Associated Press reports.

The Seattle-based premium coffee chain said Monday it has not been confirmed whether the employee has the same strain as the swine flu now suspected in up to 103 deaths in Mexico.

Starbucks says the Mexican government told the company to close the stores. Most of them are near major population centers such as shopping malls and universities.

The company says it is communicating with its employees around the world to reinforce personal hygiene guidelines and sanitation procedures.

Bids for Boeing's and Airbus' biggest customer, International Lease Finance Corp., have come in at less than the company's book value, several sources are reporting.

ILFC, which leases aircraft to airlines, is a division of financially troubled AIG. The lease company was put on sale to help AIG pay down its considerable debts.

The three bids reportedly all bid less than $5 billion, less than the company's $7.6 billion book value.

ILFC has debts totaling $33 billion. Those debts are due for payment or renegotiation before the end of the year.

The company has 168 aircraft on order from Boeing and Airbus.

Boeing's newest submarine-hunting patrol plane, the P-8A Poseidon, took flight for the first time over the weekend.

The plane, a modified Boeing 737, made its first flight from Renton's airport where it was built.

The aircraft, accompanied by two T-33 chase planes, flew for more than three hours before landing at Seattle's Boeing Field.

The aircraft is the first of dozens of subhunting aircraft Boeing plans to build on a special assembly line at its Renton plant.

The patrol aircraft combines the wings of the 737-900ER with the body of the 737-800 aircraft. The wings are equipped with raked tips instead of the optional upright blended winglets. The raked tips and blended winglets reduce wingtip vortexes, reducing drag and increasing the plane's range.

Boeing used raked wingtips instead of blended winglets because the winglets tend to accumulate ice during flights at low altitude over the ocean. The raked wingtips don't.

The U.S. Navy will be Boeing's primary customer for the plane, but the Indian Navy has also ordered the aircraft.

The plane is equipped with detection equipment to locate submarines and an internal bomb bay to carry anti-submarine weapons.