US airlines increase round-trip fares by up to 60 USD

[Pieter C. 5]

US Airlines Increase Round-Trip Fares By Up To USD$60

 

May 23, 2008

Three major US airlines have raised round-trip fares in the United States by up to USD$60 as they struggle with record oil prices, which have roughly doubled in the past year.

 

A spokeswoman for United Airlines said round-trip fares would rise between USD$10 and USD$60 to offset rising fuel costs.

 

A spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines and a spokesman for American Airlines said their companies had matched United's fare increases of up to USD$60 round-trip.

 

"We are bleeding here," said American Airlines spokesman Ned Raynolds. "It's a survival battle at this point. We are the only major carrier never to have been in bankruptcy and we want to keep it that way."

 

AMR Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said on Wednesday the airline industry as it was presently constituted could not withstand oil prices at USD$125 a barrel.

 

Crude oil futures were trading over USD$131 on Friday.

 

Seven small airlines have filed for bankruptcy or stopped operating in the past five months and, if oil prices stay at current levels or go higher, analysts say some major airlines also face the prospect of bankruptcy.

 

(Reuters)