U.S. carriers have implemented a slight domestic fare hike
over the past few days, according to analysis by airfare comparison-shopping
site FareCompare.
The hikes began with Delta Air Lines, which raised roundtrip
domestic fares—short-, medium- and long-haul alike—by as much as $6 on Monday,
FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney said. Southwest Airlines matched that later the
same day, and both American Airlines and United Airlines matched it on Tuesday.
Alaska, Virgin America and JetBlue also matched the increase, according to a J.P.
Morgan research note.
“Airlines are doing … what they’ve always done: probing
consumers’ appetite for travel by determining their pain-point on price,”
Seaney wrote in FareCompare’s blog. “The hike could still roll back; consumers
will let the airlines know by accepting or rejecting the higher prices as they
return to airfare shopping for spring break and business travel now that the
holidays are past.”
The most recent matched fare hike was in June, although airlines
have made at least five attempts since that competitors did not matched,
according to J.P. Morgan.