Airlines Raise Prices For Fifth Time in 2016
Joe Cortez February 24, 2016
The latest attempt to increase prices sticks, matching the number of airfare hikes attempted in 2015.
Airfare may be going up once more as airlines continue to experiment with price increases to open up 2016. Flight search website FareCompare says airlines have attempted to raise prices twice over five days in February, marking the fourth and fifth attempts to do so in the new year.
The first attempt came on February 17 when Delta Air Lines attempted to raise fares by $3 each way on select routes. However, the plan was abandoned 24 hours later by the nation’s second largest airline by passengers. By February 19, Southwest Airlines attempted a similar price increase, this time adding $5 to the price of flights in each direction, for a total of $10 added round trip. Four hours later, the price increase was matched by all three American legacy carriers and has since held.
Although the price increases may not affect midweek travel and highly-contested routes, the hike will pinch more money out of business travelers, last-minute flyers and those in underserved cities.
“Airline investors expect carriers to squeeze as many nickels per square millimeter on aircraft as possible,” Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare, wrote in the company’s analysis. “At the moment, it appears the economic winds (plus steady demand for travel) are keeping those sails inflated, at least domestically.”
The latest attempt to increase prices matches all attempts to hike the price of airfare made in 2015. The first attempt was successfully made by Delta, increasing the price of select routes by $8 in the opening week of 2015. With the latest increase, FareCompare claims airfares have increased overall by $22 per round trip in the New Year.
[Photo: Getty Images]
