In mid-July, I wrote about Southwest having reduced fall airfares. Whether this was a 'trend' or a one time event remained to be seen. What one would look for is confirmation of the cuts by other airlines also reducing fares.
There is yet another piece of this puzzle which I didn't suggest - if Southwest were to reduce fares OTHER than in Fall. And both of these have now happened.
Not only did Southwest change the dates from Sept. to August but Air Tran matched the reductions. Southwest also extended the 'sale' from the original two days until July 31st, another reason for me to re-post so soon. While this is not a landslide confirmation, it is a healthy start. However, another confirming signal comes from U.S. Air's announcement of more staff cutbacks this fall - 600 more jobs. This means the historic low fares we've seen still have not matched the reduced demand for flying.
Normally I would not write about similar postings so soon but given the dates of the cuts (August), it is probably prescient for me to do this now anyway. You can read the AirTran and Southwest article from USA Today here.
Comments