Many fares steady after airline closes

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2006 | by Barbara DeLollis and Barbara Hansen

The closure of East Coast carrier Independence Air this month holds a lesson for air travelers who lose discount competition in their markets: It might not be as bad as expected.

A new analysis by consultant Sabre Airline Solutions for USA TODAY shows competitors' fares mostly stayed unchanged after Independence Air stopped flying on Jan. 5.

But that doesn't mean Independence Air's disappearance didn't affect the budgets of consumers who relied on it for travel between the carrier's base at Washington Dulles airport and the 36 cities when it closed after 19 months.

Changing choices

For example, Darrell Akins of Oak Ridge, Tenn., is reconsidering air travel for personal trips between his home airport at Knoxville and Washington, D.C., where he has...