Several airlines add up to $10 to round-trip fares

DALLAS?? Several leading U.S. airlines are raising fares by up to $10 per round trip, but it's unclear whether the increase will stick because of resistance from some low-fare carriers.

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Delta Air Lines Inc. confirmed Wednesday that it started the fare hikes on Monday night with increases of $4 to $10 per round trip. Representatives for United Continental Holdings Inc., AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, US Airways Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. said Wednesday that their airlines matched the Delta increase.

Southwest Airlines Co. and its AirTran Airways subsidiary had not raised prices by Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman said.

J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said that Southwest appeared to be blocking the fare increase. He said if Southwest held out until Thursday, he would expect competitors to roll back their increases within a day or so.

Southwest carries more U.S. passengers than any airline and has enormous influence over prices on the routes it flies.

U.S. airlines have passed about 10 broad price increases ? usually just a few dollars at a time ? on to consumers this year. But even more often, proposed fare increases have failed to stick, including four tries since late October.

Even while boosting prices, however, airlines have regularly run fare sales to pump up travel demand at a time when consumers are pinched by the weak economy.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45676320/ns/travel-news/

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