American Airlines has raised ticket prices for the fifth time this year

American Airlines has raised ticket prices for the fifth time this year. Air ticket prices have increased for the fifth time this year. The latest price increase was led by Southwest Airlines...

> American Airlines has raised air ticket prices for the fifth time this year. This is the fifth time this year that air ticket prices have increased. The most recent price increase was initiated by Southwest Airlines, which increased its fares by $5 one-way on routes under 500 miles. Usually when Southwest Airlines raises its fares, other companies will follow suit, creating a wave of price increases. So far, some of the largest airlines, including Delta, US Airways, United and American, have followed Southwest Airlines in raising prices; Virgin America is also competing with Southwest Airlines in domestic short-haul markets, such as San Francisco to San Diego, Las Vegas to Los Angeles, etc. Although airlines have been profitable so far, they still complain about high operating expenses, mainly due to the high cost of aircraft fuel. Therefore, many airlines have increased fares by reducing flights and restricting seats. Southwest Airlines spokesperson Ashley Dillon said: "We are never willing to raise fares on our customers and are proud of the low fares we offer on our website, but sometimes price increases are necessary to cover operating costs, including fuel." Airlines have tried to increase prices eight times this year, four times successfully, and now the price increase led by Southwest Airlines is the fifth. Airlines attempted to raise prices 22 times last year and succeeded nine times. The average passenger fare on Southwest Airlines is 141.72 yuan one way, and the average passenger mileage is 939 miles. Farecompare.com CEO Sini said that airlines have changed their strategies this year. Usually they raise fares on all routes, but last week Delta Air Lines tried to raise fares on routes frequently used by business passengers. Because other airlines did not follow suit, the attempt failed, but at least the airline did not want to keep raising fares across the board, and temporarily changed to Plan B to raise prices for specific passengers.