American Cuts Air Fares, Others Follow

U.S. airlines reduced their fares Tuesday, as a sale announced by Northwest Airlines Corp. was expanded and one by AMR Corp.’s American Airlines was extended.

American said it is reducing fares for travel within the U.S. by as much as 47%, and that discounts for foreign places, including Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America, average 20% to 30%.

The offer expires at midnight March 15. Tickets can be used for domestic and Canadian travel any time from 14 days after the purchase until June 30. International travel can start April 9, with a final date of May 23 for Mexico, Europe, Central America and South America and June 15 for the Caribbean.

A Saturday night stay is required for domestic flights, with other minimum stays in Hawaii and foreign markets.

“The winter weather has been pretty rough for some folks this year, so it may be easy for them to start thinking about getting away this spring,” said Michael Gunn, American’s senior vice president of marketing.

Northwest said it will match American’s offer in markets where American has a lower fare. Its sale originally was 40% off most U.S. and Canadian travel between March 20 and April 30.

UAL Corp.’s United Airlines said it will match both offers on routes where they compete. Several other airlines, including Continental, Delta, TWA and USAir, matched Northwest’s offer on routes where they compete.

Some of domestic fares offered by American include Los Angeles to New York, $398 round-trip, down from $748, and San Francisco to Chicago, $388, down from $708.