Southwest Airlines alters early boarding

DALLAS — Southwest Airlines is changing its boarding system by limiting the opportunity to pay an extra fee and jump ahead of other passengers in the race for the best seats.

The airline said Wednesday that it has not dropped “EarlyBird” entirely from any flights, but it is “limiting the number of spots available for purchase on certain flights, routes, or days, as we work on product enhancements.” As a result, the airline said in a statement, the service “is unavailable for some customers looking to purchase it.”

A spokeswoman for the Dallas-based airline did not provide any numbers on the reduction of early-boarding spots.

The change took effect Aug. 15.

Unlike other major U.S. airlines, Southwest does not assign passengers to specific seats ahead of time. Instead, passengers board in the order that they checked in for the flight and pick seats once they are on the plane.

The perk starts at $15 but can be higher. Southwest passengers have other options for moving up in the boarding line, including buying the highest-priced fare, called “Business Select,” which includes one of the first 15 spots in line.

— The Associated Press

Two tankers collide inside Suez Canal

CAIRO — Two tankers carrying oil products and liquefied natural gas collided Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the Suez Canal, briefly disrupting traffic through the global waterway before it was cleared, Egyptian authorities said Wednesday.

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that the BW Lesmes, a Singapore-flagged tanker that carries liquefied natural gas, suffered a mechanical malfunction in its propulsion and steering systems on Tuesday night. It ran aground after which the Burri, a Cayman Islands-flagged oil products tanker, collided with it at the 89 mile-mark of the waterway, the canal authority said.

The collision disrupted traffic for several hours while the canal authority deployed tugboats to tow the two tankers away. The two were part of a convoy of vessels transiting through the canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.

— The Associated Press

Index closes out at 860.28, up 11.94

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Wednesday at 860.28, up 11.94.

“Falling bond yields boosted equity prices higher ahead of the Federal Reserve Symposium which begins [today] in Jackson Hole, Wyo. as technology stocks outperformed,” said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephen’s Inc.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.