Boeing unveiled a mid-life upgrade package for its popular 737 today that includes a Dreamliner-style interior and aerodynamic and engine improvements that improve fuel efficiency by two percent.

The total package of upgrades will be available to airlines by 2011.

The interior improvements will be an extra-cost option, the aerodynamic and engine improvements will become standard on the plane beginning next year.

The biggest visible difference for airline passengers will be the new interior.

That interior will feature blue LED lighting on the plane's ceiling, larger, designed overhead baggage bins and reconfigured vents, speakers and light switches.

"Sky Interior"

The "blue sky" interior will give the single-aisle plane a more spacious feeling. The overhead bins will tilt downward for loading and unloading and then swivel up into the sidewall for storage.

Larger luggage bins

The new interior will have individual speakers at each row to improve the clarity of the public address announcements. And new lighting switches will make it more difficult to mistake the attendant call button for the light button.

The interior will feature a new sidewall with a single piece air return grill integrated into the sidewall. The present interior has separate grills for the air return.

Airlines must check behind those grills periodically to see that nothing has been placed behind them by passengers. The new grills can't be pried off.

Boeing's best customer have been lobbying for a new generation aircraft to replace the 12-year-old 737 Next Generation design. With the economy on life support, however, Boeing is unlikely to invest the billions needed to develop that plane soon.

The upgrade will improve the plane's economy and marketability until that new design rolls out.

The Port of Seattle kicked off the 2009 cruise season recently with a new cruise terminal and expectations for record ship calls.

The port expects a record 211 cruise ship calls this year, though the total volume of passengers is expected to fall below 2008's record of 886,000 passengers.

The majority of those cruise ship calls will be handled at the port's new Smith Cove Terminal north of downtown near the city's Magnolia neighborhood.

The port built a $72 million terminal building at Smith Cove to replace a temporary terminal near Safeco Field that is returning to cargo use.

The new terminal comes on line as the Alaska cruise business is eroding because of the sour economy. Tourism experts predict 100,000 fewer cruise passengers will visit Alaska this year than last.

That drop in traffic is being felt more strongly in Vancouver, B.C. than in Seattle.

Vancouver is losing cruise ship calls as cruise lines move their ships to other summertime destinations. Carnival Cruise Lines, for instance, will bring its Carnival Spirit to Seattle next year. The Spirit is homeported in Vancouver this year.

Princess Cruises next year will move the Sapphire Princess from Vancouver to Seattle to replace the Star Princess, which is moving to another itinerary.

And NCL will send its Norwegian Sun cruise ship to Europe in 2010 rather than to Alaska. The Sun had called in Vancouver. NCL will homeport two ships in Seattle, the Norwegian Star and the Norwegian Pearl, which call at the Bell Street Cruise Terminal near Pike Place Market.

Seattle surpassed Vancouver last year in cruise ship passengers handled in the Alaska cruise market. As recently as 1999, Seattle saw just six cruise ship calls and handled just 6,600 passengers.

The development of faster cruise ships and lower airfares to Seattle has bolstered the business in Seattle versus Vancouver.

The weakness in the Alaska cruise market is a bonus for Western Washington residents. Some cruise line are offering 7-day Alaska cruises from Seattle this summer for as little as $299 per person for an inside cabin.

The Better Business Bureau will wrap up tax season by helping members shred personal documents for free this Saturday in Burien.

Attendees of "Secure Your ID Day" from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Burien Chevrolet, 14400 1st Ave. S., will receive tips on identity theft prevention and proper disposal of documents containing personal information.

Information such as financial data, Social Security numbers and birth dates could by used to steal individuals' identities or money if not properly shredded as BBB suggests.

At the event, attendees can drop off documents to be secured and shredded on the spot. Organizers say they will accept up to three grocery bags of paper per person, which will be recycled after shredding.

BBB representatives will also be available to answer questions about identity theft prevention.

Passenger traffic at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport fell by more than 6 percent during 2009's first quarter, new figures from the airport reveal.

Sea-Tac, whose traffic volumes remained high last year when many airports were seeing lower volumes, has finally felt the recession's effects.

The effect is the strongest in international traffic at the airport where the number of visitors dropped off more than 12.5 percent in the first quarter. Domestic traffic reductions were less severe at 5.38 percent.

March showed a small rebound with total traffic down 4.29 percent compared with 6.1 percent for the first quarter.

Cargo felt an even stronger impact, according to airport statistics. Total cargo dropped 12.65 percent in this year's first three months compared with the first three months of 2008.

Seattle home prices dropped 15.4 percent when compared to February of last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday.

This from The Associated Press:

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by 18.6 percent from February 2008. That was slightly better than January's 19 percent and the first time since January 2007 the index didn't set a record.

But the good news was mixed. All 20 cities in the report showed monthly and annual price declines, but half recorded annual records.

Prices fell by more than 10 percent in 15 cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Phoenix. In fact, Phoenix home prices have lost more than half their value since peaking in July 2006.
Yet, nine of the metros - including Dallas, Denver and Boston - showed improvement in their yearly losses compared to the month before.

"We will certainly need a few more months of data before we can determine if home prices are finally turning around," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.

Rich Patterson, a Dallas RE/MAX agent, said in the last two months he's seen a lot of first-time homebuyers interested in homes up to $250,000. He attributes the increase to low interest rates and the $8,000 tax credit.

"The buyers are still getting good deals, but they're not stealing properties," said Patterson, noting that sellers are cutting their asking price about 4 percent to snag a deal.

Last week, home sales data for March also contained some glimmers of hope for a turnaround. Existing home sales fell just 3 percent from February to March, and new home sales seemed to have hit bottom.