Airlines Cut Fares for Holidays : Travel: America West initiates the sale with the announcement of a 30% discount.

Faced with less-than-jolly holiday and winter bookings, airlines on Monday cut domestic discount fares by 30%, including prices on heavily traveled coast-to-coast flights.

“That shows that (holiday) demand has not been as great as in years past,” said Thomas Nulty, president of Santa Ana-based Associated Travel. Unlike past years, seats around Christmas and other holidays are still readily available, Nulty said.

“It will be very popular with customers,” Nulty said of the promotion.

America West kicked off the most recent holiday sale with a 30% price cut for leisure travelers flying between Dec. 7 and Feb. 4, 1993. The non-refundable tickets must be bought two weeks in advance of travel and require a Saturday night stay-over. The sale--which ends Dec. 11--does not apply to travel on Dec. 23 and 27, and Jan. 2 and 3.

Most major airlines, including American and United, said they will match America West’s fares on competing routes.

Under the America West discounts, a round trip between Los Angeles and New York will fall to $348 from $500. Other round-trip fares from Los Angeles: $368 to Boston; $308 to Chicago; $318 to Atlanta; $348 to Washington, D.C.

Most of the America West fares will require a stop in either Las Vegas or Phoenix. Travelers can fly nonstop on American Airlines, but will pay an additional $20 on each round trip.

Other airlines, such as Northwest, had launched their own winter-fare sales in recent weeks. The America West sale, however, includes more major destinations and less blackout days--days when discounts are unavailable.

Last year, most winter discounts excluded a three-week period around Christmas and New Year’s, said Tom Parsons, editor of Best Fares, a discount travel magazine. “What make this (discount fare) unusual is that they didn’t really black out that many days.”

Winter is traditionally the slowest period for air travel, with Thanksgiving and Christmas providing the only busy moments. But this year, demand for air travel during those two holidays is softer than normal.

American Airlines said holiday bookings are so far running even with last year, and America West described them as “OK.”