Airlines shift surcharges to fare charges

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. airlines are dropping fuel surcharges on many domestic flights but folding the savings into increased ticket prices, a plane fare analyst said.

"We have seen a tectonic shift in domestic airfares but it's not great news for consumers, because the major airlines have, for the most part, simply shifted the surcharge amount into the base airfare," Rick Seaney, chief executive officer of FareCompare.com, told USA Today.

American Airlines dropped its $170 fuel charges for a select round-trip ticket from Dallas/Forth Worth to Washington on Nov. 1, the newspaper reported. By, Nov. 6, however, the previous $680 ticket price had gone up to $850.

"We still need to be able to charge enough for our product to be profitable and we aren't there yet," United Airlines spokeswoman Valerie Wunder told USA Today.

Given the "financial disaster" many airlines are facing, "shifting the name from 'fuel surcharge' to 'fare' is not ripping the public off," aviation consultant Michael Boyd said to the newspaper.