Airfare boost on again for U.S. travel
Airfare boost on again for U.S. travel
A day after retreating on fare increases, on Tuesday most major U.S. airlines revived increases of $10 per round trip on many domestic flights to cover the rising cost of jet fuel.
Delta Air Lines Inc., which broke with the price increase on Monday, reconsidered overnight and pushed fares higher Tuesday morning.
Soon Delta’s action was copied by Northwest Airlines Corp., Continental Airlines Inc., AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc.
Among the largest, so-called legacy airlines, that left United Airlines alone at the lower fare levels. Spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said United, a unit of UAL Corp., was still studying the issue Tuesday afternoon.
If the fare increases stick, they would be the third in less than a month, for a cumulative jump of $30 or $40 on some domestic round trips.
Airlines are trying to cope with rising fuel costs and years of bruising fare wars that sapped revenues. American Airlines, for example, expects to spend $1.4 billion more on fuel this year than last year – about $5.4 billion, nearly double the carrier’s fuel bill two years ago.
“With the cost of oil at these levels, fares should be rising much faster than they are,” American Airlines’ chairman and chief executive, Gerard Arpey, said Tuesday.
