FORT WORTH, Texas-
American Airlines cut prices Wednesday for travel between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and many U.S. cities one day after rival Southwest Airlines Co. announced a fare sale to the same cities.
On American’s Web site, consumers could find $218 round-trip fares for nonstop travel between DFW and places including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle and Orlando, Fla.
All four are among the 25 additional cities that Southwest plans to serve with one-stop flights from Dallas Love Field.
Southwest moved quickly to take advantage of a new law that eased but didn’t eliminate restrictions at Love Field. On Tuesday, it announced a $99 one-way fare sale to the 25 new cities.
With its $218 response, American is in effect charging a $20 premium for the convenience of nonstop flights.
Gerard Arpey, chairman and chief executive of American and its parent, AMR Corp., said his airline would not back down from a fight with Dallas-based Southwest. He told reporters that Southwest’s fare sale was about what he expected.
“We compete pretty effectively with them across the country, and this region is no different,” Arpey said.
As for his slightly higher fares, Arpey said it was conventional airline-industry wisdom that you can charge more for a direct flight than one that makes a stop.
But Arpey conceded that some people will take the one-stop route if it’s cheaper, and so American will watch traffic patterns to see which way customers are going.
Southwest announced its plans to expand service from Love Field just days after President Bush signed a law that allows one-stop flights from the airport near Love Field to anywhere in the United States. The same law will permit nonstop service anywhere from Dallas in 2014–until then, nonstops from Love Field can fly only to Texas and eight nearby states.
