Watch out next year when Southwest's $40/barrel oil contracts expire.

I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be increasing their fares for fuel. No different than the extra $1-$5 charge on delivery-such as pizza, chinese etc (though, frankly, seeing that the airlines are talking about 1-10 dollars increase for each way... that does seem a bit much hahaha)

I guess what I am saying is.. if they increase prices to add extra say....peanuts, then ya, I'd be pissed.

The prices for fuel might be going up, but with all the cancellations wouldn't that even things out?

@Asvetic: You have me there... good point. Then again, $100-$250 a ticket to 'change' a reservation should probably do the same.

And yet with a record number of full flights, the airlines are STILL losing enough money to raise fares??

I know: the answer is HYBRID JETS!

Uh, wait, never mind me.

@Asvetic:
Not really. Those cancellations move passengers to other flights, which raise the weight and fuel needed. Also, I think there is a lot of idling going on due to ATC delays, and that is probably wasting a ton of fuel just sitting out there like that.

I get the impression the price on airfare is such a factor in customer loyalty simply because there are no other reasons to be loyal. I'm curious how the big wigs in these companies get hired knowing seemingly nothing about their market. $20 on a $300 flight wouldn't bother most people knowing their upcoming experience is not going to be a highly variable one.

I really think that the way to get around flight cancellations and delays is to have more airports handle trans-Pacific/Atlantic flights. Spread out the load so that airports that otherwise get barely used can take up the flights from the big international airports.

Can we please have another major terrorist attack?** January after 9/11 I flew from Baltimore's BWI to San Jose, CA for 175 bucks round trip, including taxes, on Southwest. I need people so scared to fly the companies have no choice but to drop prices.

**this is a joke, so please don't get all angry at me.

@bigTrue: Southwest always has pretty good deals if you know where to look.

January is also an off-season for travel.

@ElPresidente408: I highly doubt they haven't already signed more contracts to keep their prices steady.

JetBlue's not bad if you buy your tickets early. $140 round-trip from Florida to NYC ain't bad. Of course, this totally neglects the fact that it'll cost you another $100 in private car fees to get in & out of JFK.

Damned rights. Raise the fares 50 of 100%. Maybe finally I can get to my destinations on time because I'm not stuck behind some "casual travelers" who got $79 fares and haven't the foggiest idea that the security sign indicating they should remove all metal objects from their pockets means ANYTHING METAL FROM ALL POCKETS.

I'd rather pay the extra to be sure I don't sit on the apron for 6 hours either. I'd gladly spend an extra $200 to have my baggage arrive at the same airport on the same flight on the same day that I do.

Airfares have been dropping for far too long, not meeting the rising costs of operations.

Jack up the prices and make it quick like ripping off a band-aid, maybe the consumers will just shut up and pay the increases.

@CapitalC: The obvious problem with this statement is that prices HAVE been increasing for quite a while now and service, clearly, has not. If I felt I was getting more and more for my increased ticket price, I may agree with you. However, I'm paying more and more for less and less.

How is it they've been going up when 15 years ago a flight from, say, LA to London would cost over $1500 but now those fares can be found for $399?