Northwest Airlines to Raise Fuel Surcharge, Scale Back Operations
Northwest Airlines, one of the nation’s larger airlines, announced last week that it would be raising fuel surcharges on all tickets issued, largely as a result of the rising prices of gas and oil. With oil priced over $100 a barrel, this is expected to be a move many airlines are soon to take on, but for now, travelers looking for cheap airline tickets should probably look into other options besides Northwest, unless they are flying domestically.
The airline announced that the increased fuel surcharge would probably amount to anywhere from an extra $10-$20 on flights from the United States to Asia, Australia and Europe. Domestically, flights shouldn’t change in price very dramatically at all. The airlines also said however that it would be scaling back its operation, and would probably do roughly 5% less flying this year than it has in the past, both within the country and internationally.
So what does this mean for travelers? In the immediate term it probably doesn’t mean all that much. There are still all kinds of opportunities out there for discount airfare, but it could signal the beginning of a larger trend that could end up hurting the travel industry and travelers alike. With the economic recession looming and fuel prices rising, many airlines are concerned both with the extra cost it will take to make flights, and also with the reluctance of potential customers to spend that extra money on a vacation in an unstable economy. This could result in many airlines losing money, and therefore in some cases it could lead to rising prices.
However, this could also be a benefit to discount airlines. As the average consumer looks to spend less money on airfare, airlines like JetBlue and Southwest could begin to see more customers, resulting in stable lower fares.
