Yet ANOTHER fare increase

[KCFlyer]

OK, now I understand, SWA lowest fare is also their system wide highest fare....

Hmmm...I priced it out as a round trip. Do most UAL passengers just book one way? I know they advertise using the "one way based on round trip travel" in fine print, but I usually check pricing with the round trip fare.

 

[ualdriver]

Delta raises first-class fares in some markets
Wednesday April 5, 12:59 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (Other OTCALRQ.PK - News) has again increased its high-end fares in some markets after withdrawing from a similar move last week, an airline spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

 

[ClueByFour]

I'd just be happy if SWA quit expanding during a time they are losing money flying airplanes. SWA's capacity dumping at a loss is getting a little old

I'm sure the people at LUV are thinking that legacy airlines running into bankruptcy, screwing anyone holding any debt, and continuing to dump more money-losing capacity than LUV has ever thought about on the market should probably knock it off.

LUV has the luxury of doing what they are doing. If you watch, they are starting to ramp up their fares, presumably in anticipation of the gradual hedge erosion. If I'm them, I continue to make money on the hedges and bleed everyone else in the process. That such an approach is not helping the legacies is probably (gasp!) the point.

UA's CASM (without fuel) is still greater than LUV's by enough that (domestically, anyway) the hedge would not matter in any case.

 

[ualdriver]

Reuters
American Airlines raises int'l ticket costs $10-20
Tuesday April 11, 8:42 pm ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Airlines, the largest U.S. airline, on Tuesday said it increased surcharges on most transatlantic and transpacific flights, excluding to Japan, by $10 one-way and $20 round-trip, citing rising fuel costs.


http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060411/airlines_am...ckets.html?.v=1

 

[ualdriver]

Another one yesterday.

Associated Press
Apr. 20, 2006 12:13 PM


ARLINGTON, Texas - Major airlines are moving to match the $10 round-trip increase in leisure fares announced Wednesday by American Airlines. Thus far, Continental Airlines, Delta, Northwest, United and US Airways have all climbed aboard.

 

[WorldTraveler]

WN is still paying close to $1.50 per gallon for fuel including hedges so they are not immune to fuel price hikes AND they once again showed in their latest earnings report that they would be losing money if they were not hedged. WN's business model is not viable at the moment but they are using their fuel hedges to put pressure on legacies. Given that they have expanded in US and UA markets, they obviously see them as more vulnerable.

And it's easy to see all these fare hikes kicking in now while demand is strong but the real test will be what happens after Labor Day when demand falls off substantially.

 

[Bear96]

WN's business model is not viable at the moment ...

Oooh, lemme guess. The ONLY airline right now with a "viable business model" is ....... DL, right?

Oh well. At least WN is solvent. Unlike some other, insolvent airlines.

Some might even argue that the concepts of "viable business models" and "solvency" are somehow related.

 

[ualdriver]

I love how he gets those little "jabs" in there, too:

Given that they have expanded in US and UA markets, they obviously see them as more vulnerable.

His posts are full of stuff like that. He's certainly one of the most entertaining posters.

I certainly hope for DAL's sake that demand after Labor Day doesn't fall off too "substantially" as I would imagine it's pretty difficult to come up with a realistic exit plan after experiencing substantial drops in revenue.

 

[767jetz]

Given that they have expanded in US and UA markets, they obviously see them as more vulnerable.

Oh yes... obviously. Give me a break!

Nice try World. Still in denial, huh?

So when US and UA were in BK all you could do is rant about how companies in BK have an unfair advantage and are hurting others by keeping their prices low. Now that DL is in BK, I guess that reasoning doesn't apply.

OBVIOUSLY, WN sees DL as the most vulnerable. WN is avoiding DL because of their unfair advantage in BK. They would rather wait for the inevitable shrinking of DL or possible extinction to make their move. Why waste time and money at this point? Better to wait for a few more nails in DL's coffin. It's all about timing.

WN sees UA as a long term competitor, and wants to establish some market share NOW, before UA and others dominate again. There's plenty of time to poach off the remains of DL later.

Peace,
767jetz