Continental, Delta raise some round-trip fares

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 5, 2004 | by Bloomberg News

Continental Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. raised round- trip fares on certain flights Friday by as much as $40, blaming record high fuel prices. Northwest Airlines Corp. added the increase on most of its discounted leisure fares.

Fares rose $10 each way on flights less than 1,000 miles and $20 each way on longer ones. The Continental and Delta increases apply to first-class and unrestricted fares, and some discounted fares in the United States and between the United States and Canada.

The price of jet fuel for immediate delivery in Los Angeles reached $1.10 a gallon, up 51 percent in a year, while prices in New York were at $1.04. Higher prices will increase Continental's 2004 fuel costs by $700 million above what it forecast in March 2003, forcing the airline to threaten layoffs if fuel prices don't decline and revenue doesn't rise.

Continental and other major airlines have failed in at least four prior attempts to raise fares this year because they typically drop increases that aren't matched by rivals. Northwest, the fourth- largest U.S. carrier, has played the spoiler in at least three attempts this year by refusing to raise all its fares, prompting a rollback on the increases.