This morning, Continental Airlines rolled back the bulk of its $20 to $40 roundtrip increase; this latest fare hike was initiated last Thursday by Southwest.

Note: every time Continental has rolled back (or not participated) in an airfare hike, it has spelled the death of that hike.

What makes this turnabout especially unusual is the fact that it was initiated by Southwest, and the legacy airlines took this rare opportunity to quickly double-up and hike fares by up to $40 roundtrip.

Over the weekend there were some signs of softening by other legacy airlines as they began to tinker with some rollbacks in the lower end of the increase ($20 roundtrip) - some of which was related to a variety of July 4^th holiday weekend sales.

Airline ticket prices are going to be highly volatile in the coming weeks and months as airlines search for just the right mix of ticket price, add-on fees and flight cutbacks to stem the flow of red ink caused by record high fuel prices. Air travel consumers should be aware of this volatility and take advantage of down swings - like the one most likely to occur later today — as other legacy airlines are apt to rollback in the wake of Continental.