From USAToday (Cover story no less)
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-04-12-airline-prices_x.htm
Airlines raise base fares sharply, still fill planes
By Dan Reed, USA TODAY
Last year, U.S. travelers were feasting on airfares that, on average, were the lowest ever when adjusted for inflation.
No more. Last week, the USA's big airlines tacked $50 onto their unrestricted coach fares in most markets. Few people actually buy those high-end tickets, but most discount fares are set as a percentage of those unrestricted fares. So, such a large jump in those benchmark prices hits the average traveler in the wallet.
That's the most recent in a string of targeted and general fare increases, including a small but telling industrywide increase in early March triggered by Southwest Airlines, the king of the discounters. Taken together, the fare increases have produced a double-digit percentage rise in the cost of the average airline ticket since fall.
Fare prices are likely to go higher still, perhaps a lot higher.
Strong travel demand, plus the airline industry's newfound restraint in adding flying capacity, are giving U.S. carriers greater ability to name their prices than at any time since 2000.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2006-04-12-airline-prices_x.htm
Airlines raise base fares sharply, still fill planes
By Dan Reed, USA TODAY
Last year, U.S. travelers were feasting on airfares that, on average, were the lowest ever when adjusted for inflation.
No more. Last week, the USA's big airlines tacked $50 onto their unrestricted coach fares in most markets. Few people actually buy those high-end tickets, but most discount fares are set as a percentage of those unrestricted fares. So, such a large jump in those benchmark prices hits the average traveler in the wallet.
That's the most recent in a string of targeted and general fare increases, including a small but telling industrywide increase in early March triggered by Southwest Airlines, the king of the discounters. Taken together, the fare increases have produced a double-digit percentage rise in the cost of the average airline ticket since fall.
Fare prices are likely to go higher still, perhaps a lot higher.
Strong travel demand, plus the airline industry's newfound restraint in adding flying capacity, are giving U.S. carriers greater ability to name their prices than at any time since 2000.
