Alaska Airlines' nearly 1,500 pilots have ratified a new four-year contract that will at least partially restore their pay after big pay cuts they took in their last labor agreement.

The new contract will give captains a first-year increase of 11.84 percent followed by yearly increases of 1.5, 1.5 and 1.8 percent in the next years, said Air Line Pilots Association spokeswoman Jenn Farrell.

First officers will receive even greater increases, ranging from 16.35 to 29.52 percent raises in the first year of the new deal.

The pilots took pay cuts ranging from 21 to 35 percent in their last contract after an arbitrator ruled that their pay should be decreased to bring the SeaTac-based airline into line with competitors who had reduced salaries through bankruptcy proceedings.

The union's contract then provided for binding arbitration.

The union had been negotiating with the airline since early 2007, but hadn't made significant progress toward a new agreement until this spring.

Some 84 percent of pilots voting cast a ballot to approve the contract recommended by union negotiators.

The new contract gives veteran pilots a choice of pension plans, but converts the traditional defined benefit plan to a 401K-style defined contribution plan for new hires.

The contract, Farrell said, provides more flexibility in scheduling for pilots, particularly for pilots on the reserve list. The new work rules also give the airline more options in setting up its monthly flying schedule.

Alaska has the largest share of passenger traffic at Sea-Tac Airport. Together with its regional partner, Horizon Air, Alaska has captured nearly half the business at Sea-Tac.

The Port of Tacoma notified 47 people Monday that their jobs were being eliminated.

That represents about 18 percent of the port's staff, said Tara Mattina, the port's spokeswoman.

The final working day for port staff members losing their jobs will be July 30.

The port's business has been shrinking as the the global recession takes its toll on international trade. The number of shipping containers moving through the port was down 16 percent year-to-date in April when compared to 2008.

In addition to the layoffs, the port initiated a "voluntary separation" program earlier this month. The program provides a package of incentives including money and benefits for people willing to voluntarily resign from their jobs.

That programs remains open until June 8.

As part of the restructuring caused by the staff reductions, the port did create five new positions, Mattina said. Those positions may be filled in house or by job candidates from outside the port.

CDG Management, a New Jersey-based telemarketing company, will shutter its call center in Olympia and lay off 41 employees by May 29, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice the company filed.

Besides the Olympia location at 2303 Harrison Ave., the national telemarketing firm employs 4,000 people at 45 call centers in the U.S. and Canada, according to the company’s Web site.

Contact information for the Olympia call center was not available.

CDG has announced the closures of other locations across the country, most of which will close by May 29, according to WARN notices.

The company will lose 32 full-time and 67 part-time employees as it closes a call center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and 41 employees will lose their jobs as a call center in Durham, N.C. closes. A call center in Troy, NY with 95 employees will close as well, bringing the total job loss to more than 300 workers.

Calls from telemarketers at the firm mostly pertain to fundraising campaigns for police benevolent associations, veterans groups and other charitable organizations.

The Federal Trade Commission and others had begun to scrutinize the company’s fundraising tactics, alleging that CDG exaggerates the amount of donations that go to charitable causes.

But the company said in its notice about the Fort Laderdale closure that it has suffered three consecutive years of losses and must resort to "drastic measures.”

“Despite our efforts to restore the company to profitability, the current economic climate has taken its toll,” the notice states.

Washington's unemployment rate, growing steadily for the last 17 months, took a breather in April, settling in at a 9.1 percent, the same figure as in March.

The new figures were announced this morning by the state's Department of Employment Security.

The story in Pierce County was slightly different with unemployment continuing to rise to 10.3 percent seasonally unadjust in April. That's .1 percent higher than in March, but the growth rate was greatly diminished from other recent months.

In neighboring Thurston and King counties, according to figures from the state's Department of Employment Security, seasonally unadjusted unemployment actually fell in April.

The Olympia metropolitan area unemployment was 8.1 percent unadjusted in April, down from 8.2 percent in the previous month.

In King County, the unemployment rate fell from 7.9 percent in March to 7 percent in April.

The Employment Security Department's chief economist, Mary Ayala, said the figures don't necessarily mean that unemployment growth is over, but they're good news nonetheless.

"It's much too soon to assume that the unemployment rate will begin going down," she said.

Historically, the unemployment rate has continued rising for a few months after a recession is over because employers are reluctant to begin hiring again until they're positive the recession is done.

From an unemployment perspective, this recession is not yet as bad as the 1981-1982 recession, said Greg Weeks, the director of the department's labor market information branch.

In that recession, unemployment peaked at 12.2 percent in late 1982. The unemployment rate stayed above 7 percent for five years after that.

In the more recent 2001-2002 recession, unemployment topped out at 7.7 percent, well below the figure we've already reached in this recession, he said.

Unemployment stayed above 7 percent through all of 2003, he said.

"We don't know what the future holds," said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee. "But for now it's great to see our unemployment rate holding steady."

Adding more jobs in April were government (up 2,400 jobs), leisure and hospitality (up 700), financial activity (up 400 jobs), education and health services (up 200). Transportation and warehousing gained 100 jobs.

That positive outlook in the government sector could change in the next few months as the effects of tighter budgets become evident in the layoff of teachers and government workers.

Europe's largest discount airline, Ireland's Ryanair, is implementing yet more pay-as-you-go features to extract more revenues from passengers.

The airline, which is phasing out check-in counters, has announced it will charge its passengers $7.50 for the privilege of printing out their boarding passes on their home computers.

If you don't have a printer at home or can't get access to one on the road to print your boarding pass, the airline will print one for you for $60.

This comes from an airline that is considering charging for restroom access aboard its planes.

The Irish carrier is also reportedly considering eliminating checked baggage entirely. Passengers would carry their bags through security and deposit them at the bottom of the stairs or in the passenger boarding tube where baggage handlers would stow them aboard.

The bags could be reclaimed at the bottom of the stairs or in the passenger boarding corridor when the plane reached its destination.

That's not unlike the system Horizon Air uses at Sea-Tac as an option for travelers who are in a hurry. The process is much simpler, however, with the smaller regional planes Horizon flies.

The upside of Ryanair's charges is that the basic airfare is cheap. But the airline charges for everything else.

Boeing has delivered one of its first 777 Freighters to a new cargo company based in Leipzig, Germany.

The freighter is owned by Deucalion Capital and leased to AeroLogic GmbH. The new carrier is a joint venture of Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Express.

The leasing company and cargo airline have eight additional 777 Freighters on order from Boeing.

As one of the launch customers for the 777 Freighter, Deucalion and AeroLogic have had a hand in designing the new plane and its features.

Assembly of Boeing's first fourth-generation 747, the 747-8 Freighter, is moving forward quickly with the company finishing assembly this week of the plane's forward section.

The nearly 90-foot-long section has been stretched more than 18 feet longer than that of its predecessor, the 747-400F. The freighter version of the new aircraft will have 16 percent more cargo volume than the previous plane, Boeing says.

The new freighter will be able to carry four additional freight pallets on the main deck and three additional one in the cargo hold.

The company last month completed assembly of its first set of wings for the new aircraft.

In its passenger version, the new plane will carry 40-some more passengers than the 747-400 and carry them with less fuel use per passenger.

The plane is being built at Boeing's Everett plant, the same plant where the company is preparing for the first flight of its first 787 Dreamliner twinjet.