Go Back  Airline Pilot Central Forums > Airline Pilot Forums > Major
Continental rescinds fare increase >

Continental rescinds fare increase

Notices
Major Legacy, National, and LCC

Continental rescinds fare increase

Old 03-21-2005, 03:45 PM
  #1  
Fun Officer
Thread Starter
 
RockBottom's Avatar
 
Joined APC: Feb 2005
Position: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 515
Default Continental rescinds fare increase

Continental Rescinds Air Fare Increase
Monday March 21, 5:58 pm ET


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE:CAL - News) on Monday rescinded last week's fare increase of $5 per one-way domestic flight in a move that could prompt competing carriers to cut fares as well.
ADVERTISEMENT


The Houston-based carrier declined to give a reason for its decision to rescind the earlier fare increase.

Continent's fare reduction could erode a broad-based effort by the airline industry to implement lasting fare increases to offset soaring jet fuel prices. But experts say the No. 5 U.S. carrier's about-face probably will not unravel a recent movement throughout the industry to increase air fares.

"...we maintain a high level of confidence that this increase will eventually stick by week's end," wrote JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker in a research note. "Fare increases ought to offset about $5 per barrel of oil pain. Clearly a step, though not a leap, in the right direction."

Continental raised its fares late last week, and several major airlines rushed to match.

Analysts said the industry is in desperate need of higher ticket prices as record-high fuel prices and low-fare competitors put the bite on revenue.

Other airlines that have raised fares on domestic flights in the last few days include Northwest Airlines Corp. (NasdaqNM:NWAC - News) and UAL Corp.'s (OTC BB:UALAQ.OB - News) United Airlines.

A spokesman for Northwest said its recent fare hike is still intact. And a spokeswoman for UAL said the company is studying Monday's fare action.

Continental led the move up with a $5 fare increase on some domestic one-way flights.

"We are seeing an upward trend in air fares," said fare analyst Terry Trippler. That trend started in February when major carriers starting boosting ticket prices on domestic routes.

"It's absolutely got to happen," Trippler said. "Unless the average fare paid increases, we're going to have some airlines that are not going to be around for Christmas travel."

The airline industry has been rocked by record high fuel prices. U.S. crude oil futures traded just below $57 a barrel on Monday, down from a record high of $57.60 a barrel reached last week.

Traditionally, such expenses have been passed along to passengers, but competition from leaner discount carriers has kept fares low, causing many airlines to hemorrhage money in the last year.

Several previous attempts by carriers to raise fares wilted in the face of competition. In fact, some carriers that raised fares last week left fares untouched on routes with low-fare rivals.

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - News) on Monday said it did not match Continental's fare increase. But JetBlue Airways Corp. (NasdaqNM:JBLU - News) said it raised fares by $5 on various routes.

Stuart Klaskin of KKC Aviation Consulting in Miami, however, said adjustments are an ongoing process and that fare increases and cuts frequently go unannounced.

"Behind the scenes, I think there's a lot of tweaking of fares," Klaskin said. "There are very few wholesale blanket fare raises in this industry."

Airline shares closed mostly higher on Monday. Continental shares were 16 cents higher at $10.74 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday afternoon. Northwest Airlines shares closed up 21 cents at $6.92 on the Nasdaq.
RockBottom is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Calpilot
Major
34
07-10-2006 03:35 PM
Calpilot
Major
0
07-28-2005 11:21 AM
Freighter Captain
Major
0
06-16-2005 12:40 PM
Freight Dog
Major
0
02-25-2005 11:05 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread
Your Privacy Choices