Posted on: Friday, July 30, 2004

Airline boosts fares to offset cost of fuel

Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines has raised its fares by $10 round-trip on most of its domestic flights because of the rising costs of jet fuel.

The nation's largest carrier announced the increase yesterday, the latest of several similar efforts to help offset the fuel expense. Other airlines have instituted fuel surcharges this summer, but most of those hikes have later been rescinded when rivals declined to match them.

The increases are $5 for one-way and $10 round-trip on most domestic flights, and flights from the United States to Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The airline said it also increased some international fares.

American, a unit of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp., said that every 1-cent rise in the price of a gallon of jet fuel costs it more than $30 million a year.

The airline and its regional affiliates spent more than $900 million on fuel in the second quarter, almost 42 percent more than during the same quarter last year.