Tracking the recent airfare increases has been a bit like heading down the track on a roller coaster. You’re up one second, and the next you’re plunging downward. Take a look at the effect American’s initial airfare raise has had, and see how some airlines who were quick to match American have now stepped back.

The airfare increase started by American Airlines last week remains “sticky” (my word, meaning it’s sticking around); but some carriers, like Continental, are pulling back a bit. Here’s some of the activity we’ve seen in the past couple of days (activity picked up by FareCompare’s proprietary airfare processing system):

• American Airlines hiked airfares by $40 roundtrip on over 120 city pairs touching Continental hub cities Houston and Newark.
• Alaska Airlines matched the $20 roundtrip increase in a net 30 city pairs and also raised airfares by $21 roundtrip to/from Hawaii on 45 city pairs.
• Continental Airlines matched the $20 roundtrip increase in 4,000 mostly smaller city pairs (outside the top 50 airports by boarded passengers) and rolled back the increase in 4,000 larger city pairs (within the top 50 airports by boarded passengers). The net of the city pair matching/rollback activity is small, but effectively this is a significant 40+% rollback in larger cities.
• Hawaiian Airlines raised airfares by $21 roundtrip in 45+ city pairs.
• Spirit Airlines matched the $20 roundtrip increase in 10 city pairs.
• Northwest Airlines rolled back the $20 roundtrip increase on 4,600 city pairs (a 20% rollback from their original increase match).
• United Airlines rolled back the $20 roundtrip increase in 2,500 city pairs (a 12% rollback from their original increase match)
• US Airways continued matching the $20 roundtrip airfare increase in 5,000 mostly smaller city pairs and rolled back the $20 roundtrip increase in 4,300 city pairs (mixture of small and large cities). The net of activity is a slight increase in matching city pairs.

BOTTOM LINE: The $20 roundtrip airfare increase initiated by American Airlines remains, for the most part, intact - and, the competitive rollbacks and market positioning we’re seeing is not unusual after a system-wide increase.

The Continental rollback on larger cities is the only significant sign of wavering related to the increase - and, since American significantly raised prices to/from Continental hub cities ($40 roundtrip) it is unlikely that Continental will completely rollback.