Airfares fall for 13th straight month

By John Hughes
Bloomberg News

Ticketholders wait at the American Airlines counter at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. American has dropped an attempt to raise leisure fares by $20. Bloomberg News Service

The average one-way domestic fare fell 13 percent, to $124.93 from $143.88 in March 2001, the Air Transport Association said. The group represents carriers including AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc.

"Airfares are at their lowest level in years," said Michael Wascom, a spokesman for the Washington-based group. "Our hope is, heading into summer travel season, that leisure travelers will begin to return in sufficient numbers to help the revenue equation turn around."

Major U.S. airlines said yesterday they had abandoned a second attempt to raise round-trip leisure fares by $20 after Northwest Airlines Corp. refused to follow suit, quashing an effort to boost revenue.

Most U.S. carriers blame low fares for contributing to a first-quarter loss estimated at $2.5 billion, the industry's second-largest ever, behind the fourth quarter of 2001.

The average cost of a coach seat fell 13 percent to $113.19 in March, while the combined figure for first- and business-class tickets dropped 14 percent to $220.84, the trade group said. For the first three months of the year, the average fare declined 14 percent to $125.52 from the same period last year, the association said.

The report is compiled from prices paid by consumers and provided by the airlines for a one-way, 1,000-mile trip, minus taxes, of the nine largest U.S. carriers, excluding Southwest Airlines Co., which does not provide figures.