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The five largest U.S. airlines scrapped a $10 round-trip fare increase in domestic markets where they compete with discount rivals.
American, United, Delta, Continental and Northwest dropped the increase in some areas after low-fare carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue didn’t join in. Prices rose May 10.
The pullback reflected the major airlines’ difficulty in making higher fares stick with discounters available to about 78 percent of U.S. fliers, according to LECG LLC economist Darin Lee in Cambridge, Mass. To stay competitive, airlines usually scrap increases not matched by rivals.
