USAir Cuts Commuter Fares to Compete With Southwest

Responding to competitive pressures, USAir today will lower discount prices on heavily traveled commuter routes out of Los Angeles.

USAir will offer $98 discount fares on round-trip Los Angeles-San Francisco and Los Angeles-Sacramento flights. Tickets must be purchased three weeks in advance. Discount flights on Friday and Sunday are higher--$118 round trip.

In addition, USAir travelers who purchase tickets at least seven days before flying can now travel round trip for $118 to $138. The carrier also made it less expensive for passengers to upgrade full-fare coach tickets to first class.

United, American and Southwest said they were studying USAir’s new fares.

The permanent fare cut--about $10 to $20 round trip--is a move to compete with Southwest Airlines, which has used discount pricing to become the largest carrier in the cutthroat California market. Last August, Delta Air Lines eliminated its hourly shuttle service between Los Angeles and San Francisco, in part because of Southwest’s low fares.

“They’re probably feeling some pressure from Southwest,” said Thomas Nulty, president of Santa Ana-based Associated Travel Management. “They’re taking passengers away from them.”

Although Southwest does not compete head-to-head with USAir out of Los Angeles International Airport, USAir might be trying to win back passengers who have shifted to Southwest airports--such as Burbank--to take advantage of lower fares, said David Ulmer, vice president of planning for Roberts & Associates.

During the second quarter of this year, passenger traffic between Los Angeles International and San Francisco International has fallen about 20%, said Ulmer, citing federal statistics. Travel between Oakland and Burbank airports--both served by Southwest--remained steady.