Everyone's looking for the bottom, from housing to retail to...airlines. In fact, they're looking so intently that they're feeling a bottom before their toes start to touch. The latest premature eureka comes from observers who note that the major carriers are trying their second fare hike in two weeks. Led by American and United, the big guys added another $10 to $20 on to roundtrip fares (depending on distance).
These observers seem to be placing a lot on Rick Seaney, the farecompare.com commentator. "The pace of domestic airfare sales has dried up recently," says Seaney. "I have been cautioning consumers for the past month that they procrastinate on purchasing airline tickets at their own risk - two airfare hikes in the past few weeks is the strongest signal I have seen that the bottom is either here or near," he says.
But let's inject a few notes here: the low-cost carriers, led by Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran, aren't taking part in the fare hikes. In fact, they're launching and pushing sales, and many of them are for travel in the peak summer period. AirTran just began a $44-and-up promotion for travel through November, and Gary Kelly, the Southwest airlines chief, says June revenues look weak and probably won't improve until the rest of the economy finds its bottom.
These observers seem to be placing a lot on Rick Seaney, the farecompare.com commentator. "The pace of domestic airfare sales has dried up recently," says Seaney. "I have been cautioning consumers for the past month that they procrastinate on purchasing airline tickets at their own risk - two airfare hikes in the past few weeks is the strongest signal I have seen that the bottom is either here or near," he says.
But let's inject a few notes here: the low-cost carriers, led by Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran, aren't taking part in the fare hikes. In fact, they're launching and pushing sales, and many of them are for travel in the peak summer period. AirTran just began a $44-and-up promotion for travel through November, and Gary Kelly, the Southwest airlines chief, says June revenues look weak and probably won't improve until the rest of the economy finds its bottom.
No comments:
Post a Comment