Delta Leads New Increase in Air Fares

Domestic air fares see-sawed upward again as Delta Air Lines, which had scuttled an industrywide attempt to increase leisure fares over the weekend, decided to raise its vacation rates $10 to $30 round-trip. In response, American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and US Airways--which had jacked up fares over the weekend but pulled back Monday when Delta initially refused to follow suit--reinstated their own price hikes, travel analyst Terry Trippler said. By Tuesday afternoon, Delta, American, Northwest, US Air, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, TWA and America West Airlines had all raised round-trip fares for leisure and business by $10 to $30, depending on distance, said Trippler, who tracks fares posted by the airlines on travel industry computer networks. As usual, discount carrier Southwest stayed out of the fare-raising frenzy, Trippler said.