Three Airlines Raise Fares for Leisure Travel

The nation’s three largest airlines raised the price of certain round-trip fares by $20 for leisure travelers ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

The ticket price increases introduced by AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and matched by UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. on Wednesday apply to 14-day advance-purchase companion fares that require a Saturday night stay.

A spokesman for American, which initiated the move late Tuesday, said the change applies to the lowest fares in the carrier’s pricing structure.

Nevertheless, the fare increase is the industry’s fourth such effort since mid-April and comes at a time when the biggest airlines continue to lose millions of dollars a day. The major carriers’ three previous attempts to raise ticket prices were short-lived as competitors, most notably Northwest Airlines Corp., refused to go along.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Continental Airlines Inc., US Airways Group Inc. and Northwest hadn’t matched the fare increase. Industry analysts downplayed the change, saying that many more fares had been reduced earlier in the week.