Fare Hike Fizzles as Some Airlines Refuse to Go Along

U.S. airlines failed to enact a second fare increase of the year this weekend, signaling that further attempts to boost ticket prices could meet resistance from carriers such as Northwest Airlines Corp.

Continental Airlines Inc. raised leisure fares 5% and business fares 3% on Friday, said Terry Trippler, president of Minneapolis-based consumer guide Airfare Report.

Those increases were matched by AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc., only to be scrapped when Northwest and others did not follow.

In late January, most of the major airlines raised leisure fares by an average of 4%, the first across-the-board fare hike in 18 months.

Large carriers tried more than a dozen times last year to push through a broad fare increase, only to roll prices back after one airline--typically Northwest--refused to go along.

In January, the airlines pushed through their first increase in more than a year, prompting expectations of a further rise in ticket prices.