I have been closely analyzing airfares for over 5 years and 2007 was by far the most active year for airline system wide airfare increase attempts in this time frame. 2006 had previously held the record with approximately a dozen attempted airfare increases — which for the most part were “successful” (assuming you are an airline and not a a passenger …). The highest airline ticket prices FareCompare.com has tracked in our 42+ months of daily price history occurred previously in the summer of 2006. The end of 2007 saw airline ticket prices crest slightly over those summer 2006 highs and 2007 saw a whopping 23 attempted airfare increases (including 11 in the last 4 months of 2007) …

Of these 23 attempted airfare increases in 2007, 17 were “successful” - meaning that after an attempted airfare increase by a particular airline, all the legacy airlines matched the increase in subsequent days and substantially maintained the airfare increase for over a week.

The time line for the increases is shown below including the date of attempted increase, the initiating airline, amount of attempted increase and whether or not the increase was “successful”:

1. 11-Jan-07 – United Airlines, – $10rt – Not Successful
2. 19-Jan-07 – United Airlines, – $10rt – Not Successful
3. 01-Feb-07 – Delta Air Lines, – $10rt – Not Successful
4. 10-Feb-07 – Southwest Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
5. 22-Mar-07 – Delta Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
6. 03-May-07 – Continental Airlines, – $10rt – Not Successful
7. 10-May-07 – Delta Air Lines, – $10rt – Successful
8. 14-May-07 – Continental Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
9. 04-Jun-07 – AirTran Airways, – $10rt & $20rt – Successful
10. 21-Jun-07 – Delta Air Lines, – $10rt – Successful
11. 29-Jun-07 – United Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
12. 05-Jul-07 – Southwest Airlines, – $6rt, $10rt & 20rt – Successful
13. 31-Aug-07 – Southwest Airlines, – $6rt, $10rt & 20rt – Successful
14. 06-Sep-07 – Delta Air Lines, – $10rt – Successful
15. 14-Sep-07 – United Airlines, – $6rt – Successful
16. 12-Oct-07 – American Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
17. 17-Oct-07 – United Airlines, – $10rt & $20rt – Successful
18. 26-Oct-07 – Continental Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
19. 31-Oct-07 – American Airlines, – $20rt – Successful
20. 08-Nov-07 – United Airlines, – $10rt – Successful
21. 20-Nov-07 – US Airways, – $10rt – Not Successful
22. 26-Nov-07 – Delta Air Lines, – $20rt – Not Successful
23. 20-Dec-07 – United Airlines, – $10rt – Successful

With oil slipping over the $100/barrel mark today and legacy airlines continuing to drastically reduce capacity — consumers should brace themselves for continued airfare hikes in 2008.

For those of us who love to fly on the cheap — the “art of finding a deal” is going to be even more important for 2008 as air travel deals will be fewer and farther between…