http://www.thedailytimes.com/sited/story/html/228237 Few fares change after Independence Air closes2006-01-22 From Staff and Wire Reports The closure of East Coast carrier Independence Air this month holds a lesson for air travelers who lose discount competition in their markets: It might not be as bad as expected. A new analysis by consultant Sabre Airline Solutions for USA Today shows competitors' fares mostly stayed unchanged after Independence Air stopped flying on Jan. 5. ``I haven't seen anything drastic,'' Danni Varlan of East Tennesseans for Airfare Competition told The Daily Times Friday. ` `Most of our fares (at McGhee Tyson Airport) seem to be relatively stable. We've seen a little bit (of change) but not a lot.'' Airport spokeswoman Becky Huckaby said as soon as airport personnel learned Independence was going out of business, they began writing letters to all the other carriers thanking them for their services and encouraging them to help McGhee Tyson stay competitive. ``One of the things going for us is (McGhee Tyson) has been such a successful market for a lot of the airlines right now,'' Huckaby said. ``There's a lot that goes into the cost of each ticket,'' she said, noting that fuel costs will inevitably impact airfares. Yet, she added, ``We really haven't seen a whole lot of movement'' in rates. ETAC's Varlan, asked what kind of fares she is seeing post-Independence Air, told The Daily Times, ``Maybe $18 to $24, nothing that would make you want to go anywhere else. ... We're not substantially different from Nashville at this time.'' But that doesn't mean Independence Air's disappearance didn't affect the budgets of consumers who relied on it for travel between the carrier's base at Washington Dulles airport and the 36 cities when it closed after 19 months. Changing choices For example, Darrell Akins of Oak Ridge told USA Today he is reconsidering air travel for personal trips between McGhee Tyson Airport and Washington, D.C., where he has family. He faces the prospect of paying hundreds of dollars more than what Independence charged. For his next trip to Washington to visit a son and daughter, Akins and his wife might drive the eight hours instead of catching a 90-minute flight on United or US Airways. ``I wouldn't have even thought about that before because it was just so cheap,'' Akins said. Carol Welti, vice president marketing for Washington Airports Task Force, a nonprofit that monitors local air service issues, said Independence's fares were artificially low. That might have limited the effect of its disappearance. ``The fares they were offering were very low, and probably not sustainable even if they had stayed in service,'' Welti said. Expected actions Expectations of fare increases were justified, given what other communities experienced in the last five years. Fares in Grand Rapids, Mich., rose after struggling discounter ATA left last year, airport official Bruce Schedlbauer said. McGhee Tyson Airport saw similar results when AirTran left in 2000, Varlan told USA Today. In its new analysis, Sabre looked at the lowest-available fares for last-minute and advance-purchase travel published by direct competitors on the 36 non-stop routes Independence flew. Sabre examined fares published on Jan. 3, before Independence ceased flying, and Jan. 9, after it closed. Whether passengers are paying more now than they did when Independence existed depends on a number of factors, Sabre analyst Tom Bertram said: where they're flying, how far in advance they buy their tickets, how much competition exists on the route, and how much a carrier limits seats sold at the lowest fares. In general, Bertram said, consumers could have reasonably expected to see greater increases. Some changes The Sabre analysis did not identify specific airlines, but United Airlines -- which overlapped on most Independence routes -- confirms that it did not raise most fares after Independence went out of business. United did, however, eliminate the $29 and $39 one-way fares that had matched Independence promotions, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said. Other findings from the analysis: * Florida markets. Carriers left most of their lowest fares to Tampa, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Orlando intact. In most cases, rival carriers were already charging more than the defunct carrier. Independence, for instance, offered a round-trip, last-minute ticket to Fort Myers for $118, when two other airlines charged at least $464. * Last-minute fares. Airlines such as United left most of these fares alone, but there were exceptions. On about a quarter of routes, at least one carrier raised its fares. One carrier raised its lowest last-minute fare to Columbus to $478 on Jan. 9 from $118 on Jan. 3. * Advance-purchase fares. A few airlines raised their cheapest fares aimed at leisure travelers. One carrier raised its round-trip fare to Charlotte to $238 from $138. --------------------------------- What are the most popular cars? Find out at Yahoo! Autos