January 28, 2008
American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways have doubled their fuel surcharges to USD$40 from USD$20 on domestic roundtrip tickets, matching a move by Continental Airlines last week.
After two industry efforts to raise fuel surcharges failed, airlines were more selective in increasing the fees, raising them on 66 percent of their respective networks, according to fare tracker FareCompare.
“This slightly less aggressive approach may be an attempt to give this airfare increase a greater chance of ‘sticking’,” said FareCompare Chief Executive Rick Seaney.
The previous two attempts — one led by United and the other by American — were initially matched by other major airlines but failed to hold after consumers resisted the higher fees.
With the US economy slowing, airlines have struggled to pass higher fuel costs on to passengers.
In the last few days, American Airlines parent AMR, United Airlines owner UAL, Delta Air Lines and US Airways all posted fourth-quarter losses because of high fuel costs.
(Reuters)