Low-fare, regional airlines join planned fare rise CHICAGO (Reuters) =97 A handful of low-fare airlines and regional carriers= =20 Tuesday joined the list of U.S. airlines that will raise air fares by $10=20 on round-trip tickets starting June 1. America West Holdings Corp. unit=20 America West Airlines, Frontier Airlines Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc.'s=20 Alaska Airlines said they matched the $5 each- way fare increase AMR=20 Corp.'s American Airlines announced last week on domestic non-sale tickets.= =20 AirTran Holdings Inc. unit AirTran Airways, ATA Holdings Corp.'s ATA=20 Airlines and Midwest Airlines, owned by Midwest Express Holdings Inc., also= =20 matched the higher fares, said air fare expert Terry Trippler of=20 CheapSeats.com. Alaska Airlines said it also imposed an immediate $4=20 round-trip increase on some West Coast routes, a spokesman said. Other carriers that previously said they would raise fares on June 1 are=20 UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines=20 Corp., Delta Air Lines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc.. But passengers may=20 not feel too much of the increase in ticket prices, analysts said, because= =20 the fare increase goes into effect the same day passenger security fees of= =20 up to $10 per round-trip will be temporarily lifted. Analysts said higher=20 fares would likely stick this time around given how many carriers have=20 decided to go along with it. Trippler said the June increase may be the=20 first successful fare increase in nearly two years. Airlines have tried to= =20 raise ticket prices several times this year, but quickly rescinded the=20 increases due to weak demand for air travel. The U.S. Justice Department=20 said it is examining the fare rises to see if the airlines violated a=20 decade-old antitrust agreement with the government that partly prohibits=20 carriers from releasing information about future changes in fares. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************