In a move that has surprised many airline analysts, Southwest Airlines has matched a recent fare hike by some of its competitors. Seeing an increased necessity to cover recent jet fuel price hikes, the Dallas-based mega discount carrier decided over the weekend to add $10 round-trip to its fares. Many times over the years Southwest has played the spoiler by refusing to go along with fare bumps instigated by the legacy carriers such as United, Delta and American. If Southwest didn’t match the fare increases, they more often than not were retracted. But in the most recent case the low-cost carrier acknowledged that they too, need the added revenue to cover its costs.
There have now been no less than six fare increases industry-wide just this year, as compared to four in all of 2010. Two of the four came in December of last year. A Southwest spokesperson told the Associated Press that, “As an industry, we are all feeling the cost pressures surrounding fuel prices.”
This latest airfare increase doesn’t bode well for travelers looking to get away by air in the coming months. While the latest increases have been targeting last minute bookings and business travelers in particular, Southwest’s match covers a much wider spectrum of air travelers. With the overwhelming majority of its passengers flying on a leisure-oriented trip, this increase will affect not just business travelers, but families and seniors who are on a much tighter budget.
The instability of fuel prices in recent weeks can be directly attributed to the turmoil in the Middle East. Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other countries have seen political uprisings that are causing fear in the oil markets. Until the region settles down, and when that will be is anyone’s guess, fuel prices will continue to rise.
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