I am going to try to do a weekly round up highlighting the changes in the airfare index and the major movers and shakers of the past week.
For the week ending March 23, the biggest fare event was Delta’s $5 increase last night. It’s been more than 45 days since Delta last tried to make this increase stick. While it’s never possible to say how the other carriers will respond, I do think this round has a better chance of sticking than the previous three attempts this year. We are heading into the heavier travel season and fares typically start their climb in the March/April period.
The index shot up 16 points (now at 451) based on Delta’s increase. I would expect the index to continue its climb as the other network carriers match Delta’s increase. We’ve also moved into two-star territory which means that the current index value is pretty much on par with the average historical levels of 2005 and 2006.
The other major event was Air Canada pulling back its attempted fare increase on March 19.
In general the carriers have not had much luck so far this year getting increases to stick. The only increase that was immediately adopted across the board was led by Southwest on February 9.
Biggest drops for the 7-day period ending March 23rd.
Cincinnati – Houston
On March 21, American lowered the fare from $479 to $178 with a savings of $281
Phoenix – San Juan, PR
On March 20, Continental lowered its fare from $406 to $168. Then on March 22 Continental raised the far up to $277.
Minneapolis – Salt Lake City
On March 20, Continental lowered its fare from $479 to $197, for a savings of $282.
Biggest gains for the 7-day period ending March 23rd
Cincinnati – San Francisco
On March 20, United raised its lowest fare for this market from $209 to $539. United then lowered the fare from $539 to $504 on March 21.
Chicago – San Francisco
On March 17, Frontier raised its lowest fare in this market from $170 to $403. The $170 fare was only available on March 15 & 16.
Cleveland – Phoenix
On March 16, Northwest raised its lowest fare for this market from $146 to $217. Then on March 23 Northwest raised the fare to $383.
