The five largest U.S. carriers raised fares $10 per round trip on most domestic routes as fuel prices climbed to record highs, airlines and fare monitors said Monday.
Airlines boosted prices on both advance-purchase tickets and those bought just before travel. There was no increase on fares in direct competition with low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines, Tom Parsons of said in an e-mail.
U.S. carriers have been raising fares, increasing fuel surcharges and considering merging or possibly selling assets to help cope with higher fuel costs. Jet fuel for immediate delivery in New York Harbor has climbed 59 percent in the past 12 months to a record $2.913 a gallon.
“It appears the major airlines are again focusing their airfare increases on routes with no competition from low-cost carriers at the expense of those business travelers who are willing to fly their favorite legacy carriers no matter what the price,” Parsons said.
United initiated the increase Friday, and American, Delta and Continental matched over the weekend, spokesmen for the carriers said. Northwest and US Airways, the seventh-largest carrier by passenger traffic, also adopted the increase, said Parsons and Rick Seaney, chief executive of .
