Transportation
Southwest Airlines matched a fare hike initiated this week by US Airways, "thereby completing the tenth broad-based industry increase this year,"
according to J.P. Morgan analysts. The $3 to $5 one-way fare increase affected corporate travel-oriented fare types, "specifically
those lacking advance purchase requirements (though in many cases still proving
nonrefundable)," the analysts wrote in a Friday research note.
"Demand has yet to show any slippage associated with an increasingly
sluggish economy. We fully expect some demand erosion to manifest within the
fourth quarter ... pay careful attention to the health of the financial
services and the technology sector, given their disproportionate role in travel
consumption."