Southwest Airlines is allowing travelers to go from, say, Seattle to Boise or Albany to Baltimore for $ 40. Some experts say the move by Southwest Airlines could trigger war fare in the industry.
It's just a three-day sale, but the move by Southwest Airlines to sell one-way flights for as little as $ 40 sends the message: a new round of tariff war may be on the road.
On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines announced its bargain ticket prices for hundreds of U.S. routes, with a one-way price is $ 40, $ 80, or $ 120 for flights taken between 23 August and November 16. The sale will last until Thursday.
$ 40, the flyer can be in one direction from Seattle to Boise, Albany to Baltimore or Cleveland to Newark, among many other examples.
Industry analysts say it is a sign that, even after taking steps to fly fewer routes and keep fuller aircraft, airlines still don't have an easy time selling seats in a soft economy at this time. Many Americans want to travel, but their plans are price-sensitive.
In the meantime, jump in fuel prices over the past year has been squeezed airlines, which encourage their costs and encourage them to raise fares, which can in turn crimp demand for tickets.
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Some analysts say that, having done quite well during the busy summer season, the rest of the year can be a struggle for the industry.
"We are very worried about what happens after labor day," Helane Becker, an analyst for Dahlman Rose & Co., told the Associated Press. "We will see less demand and more discount."
In addition to moving Southwest, JetBlue also announced the sale of the post-summer flights this week.
And arm travel-a search Bing.com offer estimates that even midsummer tariffs could fall in the price.
Consider the round trip flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, from 19 July to 26 July. Search Bing travel find the price of $ 306 travel-and shows that fliers waiting to buy tickets, because it is expected to fall by another $ 45.
If the forecast proved accurate, Bing will make a flight in July it was roughly equal to the price of the Southwest offers for later in the season ($ 240 or $ 120 each way).
Similarly, if You buy at the end of August, other airlines such as continental Southwest already beat the price, offering flights for $ 239 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Bing travel.
Airfares to Europe, while not inexpensive, has also been.
"We are now seeing the biggest savings on fares to Europe for August 14-28 departure," said Tom Parsons of BestFares, wrote in a column of the Dallas Morning News. "From Dallas, many cities averaging with a range of $ 800 to $ 950 for a flight round trip, including to Dublin, Rome, Amsterdam, Prague, Barcelona."
So, high fuel prices or not, the airlines still need to fill the Chair-sometimes with a fare war. But they also have shown a willingness to cut route lost money. More than it could happen this fall as well.
