This might come as a surprise but the average US domestic fare in the second quarter was nearly identical to ticket prices more than a decade ago, according to recently released statistics.
The average fare for a domestic trip from April to June was $301, down 13 percent from a year earlier and the steepest year-over-year dip in nearly 15 years, the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports.
Before this year, the biggest year-over-year drop was between the fourth quarter of 2000 and the fourth quarter of 2001, after the terror attacks of Sept. 11. The average price of a domestic trip slipped 11.8 percent then, the bureau says.
"They thought if they reduced capacity they’d be able to maintain pricing power," George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com said of airlines cutting the number of available seats to match reduced passenger demand. "But … the worsening of the economy surpassed what they could accomplish with capacity cuts. So they found themselves with empty seats."
To fill them, Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, told USA Today, "Airfares were in free fall from November … and the discounting never stopped."
A drop in the number of business travelers, whose premium-priced tickets could normally make up for some cheaper seats going empty, compelled airlines to chase after vacationers.
"You have to get leisure travelers to fly, and the only way to get them off the couch and onto the computer is to discount," Seaney says.
Fares have started to creep up, however.
By David Wilkening
