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Airlines rescind fare hike
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August 20, 1998: 2:42 p.m. ET
US Air, Delta, United back off 4 % price increase after Northwest pulls back
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Three major airlines are backing off a 4 percent hike in domestic leisure fares initiated earlier this week to match rival Northwest Airlines Corp., which raised prices, then pulled back.
"We have rescinded the increase that we put in to match Northwest," a United (UAL) spokesman said. "We were basically matching a Northwest action in increasing primarily leisure fares by 4 percent. They withdrew that fare increase and now we have followed suit."
Delta Air Lines (DAL) and US Airways (U) are also rescinding the fare hike.
Industry sources said Wednesday that Northwest (NWAC) ditched its 4 percent hike just a day after initiating it, marking Northwest's seventh move this year to resist an industry-wide fare increase.
Six prior attempts to raise fares failed this year after Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest airline, refused to match competitors' increases, forcing them to cancel intended price hikes.
Northwest's decision to raise prices late Monday surprised other airlines, which quickly matched its increases on advance-purchase tickets for domestic travel.
Northwest has been trying to keep passengers from going to other airlines as it battles labor problems with its pilots' and its machinists' unions. Pilots are threatening to strike at month's end unless Northwest agrees to a new labor contract. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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