Released: June 20, 2008

High fuel costs are squeezing low air fares

Source: Micheline Maynard, NY Times (Free Registration)

For years, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue operated under self-imposed fare caps, promising travelers that no ticket would cost more than $299 one way.

Those were the days. Want to fly from Boston to Long Beach, Calif.? On JetBlue, it will now cost as much as $599 each way. A one-way ticket on Southwest from Manchester, N.H., to Ontario, Calif., can be $414.

The low-fare airlines aren’t so low anymore. Jet fuel costs — up more than 80 percent over last year — are forcing the airlines to sharply raise some fares, and reinvent themselves to appeal to not just bargain hunters, but also the briefcase crowd that generally pays more for last-minute tickets. No longer does Southwest’s slogan promise, “You are now free to move about the country.”

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