Air Fares Rising, but Higher Rates May Not Last : Airlines: Carriers are hoping the boosts will end the losses the industry suffered in the summer.

Air fares are on the rise again as discounts expire and airlines raise ticket prices in hopes of ending heavy losses sustained in summertime price wars.

But with fewer people traveling, the increases might not stick, airline analysts said. Even if they do, it will take more than higher fares to make the industry profitable again, they said.

On Tuesday, a first round of fall price discounting expired, increasing fares within the continental United States by about 30%.

A second round of discounting, which started when Northwest Airlines issued coupons for $35 to $50 off, expires Saturday.

On the same day, most airlines will also raise prices by $10 to $40, depending on the market, in a round of increases initiated by Continental Airlines. United Airlines and USAir, however, will be raising fares about $10 to $30.

“The increases peg domestic fares to a mileage table so that in every case the fare paid bears a direct relationship to the distance traveled,” said Continental spokesman David Messing. “We’re intent on fare levels once again matching cost.”

Transcontinental fare increases will generally be greater. For most of the industry, the regular 14-day advance purchase price for a New York-Los Angeles round trip will jump from $390 to $490, for example. The United and USAir fares will increase to $470.

“The intent is to return to a situation whereby the cheapest round trip equals the one-way no advance purchase full-coach fare,” said Neil Monroe, spokesman for Delta Airlines.

The fare increase pushed up airline stocks. AMR Corp., parent of American, rose $1.87 1/2 to $57.37 1/2; Delta rose $2.37 1/2 to $52.37 1/2, and UAL Corp. rose $3.37 1/2 to $107.50.

The raises bring fares back to their levels of April 13, when a fare overhaul initiated by American went into effect. Under that system, fares for leisure travel stayed the same or rose, but fares for last-minute travelers, usually business people, dropped.

Since then, summer price wars have eaten into airline revenue.

Although the discounting helped raise airplane passenger loads from 68% in July, 1991, to 73% in July, the industry still lost $668 million in the first six months of 1992, according to the Air Transport Assn. That follows losses of $2.4 billion in 1990 and $1.6 billion in 1991.

The third quarter, usually the airlines’ most profitable, is expected to show more losses, said George James, chairman of Airline Economics Inc.

“We’ve had discounts on top of discounts,” said American spokesman Tim Smith. “They’ve made no economic sense.”

James said the new fares represent “a recognition by all carriers that they have to move to a sensible fare structure related more to mileage and to cost.”

Analysts speculated, however, that the fare increases might not be around long.

Several times this summer, carriers tried to raise fares by up to 33%, but each time plans failed because one airline or another chose not to match the increases, said Tom Parons, editor of Best Fares Discount Magazine.

With the latest increase, all the major airlines have raised fares.

But since not as many people are flying as had been hoped, it’s more likely that airlines will cut prices rather than raise them, said Daniel Kasper, an analyst with the Boston consulting firm Harbridge House.

“I’m not sure we’re through with discounting for the year,” he said.

Part of the problem is that people who might have traveled in the fall months pushed up travel to the summer to take advantage of the low fares, he said. So, in the already slower fall months, traffic could be even less.

It’s not just price increases that will make the airlines profitable, Kasper said. U.S. economic conditions need to improve to get people traveling again, and the number of airlines operating will have to shrink, he said.

Three carriers are now operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors--America West, Continental and Trans World Airlines.