United's accelerated expansion unnerves Wall Street analysts

A decision by United last month to speed up expansion of its domestic network was enough to spook investors, although it remains to be seen if American and Delta will follow suit -- and if United's move will result in keeping ticket prices down. Historically, capacity growth tends to put downward pressure on fares, although that does not seem to be the case at the moment. "Right now, we're seeing domestic prices up 10% on last year," said Patrick Surry, chief data analyst for Hopper, an app that tracks airfares. "It doesn't seem there has been an immediate impact from United." United said its decision to double guidance on domestic expansion this year to between 3.5% and 4.5% was driven by a thorough review undertaken by its new network management team led by Scott Kirby. <br/>