Americans stampede back to air travel, wiping out bargain fares

The days of bargain basement airfares are ending as the U.S. vaccine supply unleashes a wave of pent-up travel demand. A rebound in trips to visit friends and family coupled with flight schedules that remain below 2019 levels means more flyers chasing fewer seats. That’s pushing up trip costs for the peak summer season as carriers reboot revenue management tools -- which raise fares in line with stronger seat demand -- after a year in which planes often flew with rows of empty seats. “I haven’t been super pleased with the prices,” said Jackson Ralston, 29 years old, of Lake Dallas, Texas, who is monitoring daily Google Flight fare alerts to attend a friend’s bachelor party this summer. Current ticket prices from Dallas to Manchester, New Hampshire, for the planned weekend at a lake are close to $600. “I’m debating whether or not I’ll need to fly into more of a major hub over there and just rent a car and drive up,” he said. The hit to consumer wallets is buoying airlines that have had to rely on billions of dollars in federal aid to weather a collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Coupled with deep cost cuts last year, the fare recovery is making carriers including Delta and United more confident that their run of red ink will end in Q3. Airfares jumped a record 10.2% in April from the previous month, reflecting a surge of demand as cooped-up consumers returned to the skies.<br/>