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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Business travelers could find themselves in a flyer's market as airlines rush to match Delta Air Lines reduced walk-up fares, but vacationers may find themselves no better off.

"I don't see how the consumer could lose in this one," said Gary Harig, vice president for Eclat Consulting, though he said airlines will feel the financial bite of competing through lower fares, at least in the beginning. "Most of them have said, at least in the short term, that they're going to be revenue negative."

In addition to capping one-way, walk-up commercial flights at $499 and first class at $599, Delta also is dropping many discount fares' Saturday-night stay requirement. Business travelers will feel less pressure to give up family time during the weekend in order to get to a conference during the week, one analyst said.

"Given that many of us work more than eight hours a day and five days a week, that free time is precious," said Michael Allen, leading airline consultant and chief operations officer for Back Aviation Solutions.

Allen called the industry-wide price reductions "inevitable."

"The pricing is something that has been a problem for quite some time, when the front of the plane was basically subsidizing the back of the plane," said Allen, referring to the price disparity between first class and economy. "The very small number of people who were paying for the very high fares were resentful."

In the 1990s, companies adopted a "time is money" philosophy and flew their employees around the country at short notice, Allen says. "Then we saw the pendulum swing to other side, where money is money" and where corporations began the hunt for better fares.

In the wake of Delta's announced fare reductions on Wednesday, other airlines discounted some flights, including Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines Inc., United Airlines, and American Airlines.

Due to those fare cuts, Allen predicted business travelers will be less likely to take extreme measures to spare their employers the hefty bills. "In many cases, the walk-ups were placed at such a level that people were willing to make adjustments like driving to alternate airports," said Allen.

The boon to business travel is unlikely to be shared by vacationers, who have already been enjoying the benefit of price slashing, said analysts.

"The main benefit will be to corporations and small businesses," said Philip Baggaley, airline credit analyst for Standard & Poor's. "It's a significant consumer benefit but not necessarily to your average person in the street who is planning on taking a vacation."

Some analysts have hailed the move as a necessary and inevitable boost for the money-losing airline industry, as Delta's reductions have spurred an industry-wide price cutting that could serve as a remedy for the beleaguered airlines.

"It's going to speed up the reformation and the restructuring in the industry," said Ray Neidl, airline analyst for Calyon Securities. "Those who make the right decisions in those areas are going to be the survivors. Adapt or perish."

Paul Matsen, chief marketing officer for Atlanta-based Delta, denied that the company was trying to change the industry as a whole.

"A lot of people are calling this a fare war," said Matsen. "It's not. It's a fundamental restructuring of our business model. Delta's not trying to impose a solution on the industry."

Matsen said the price reductions are one piece of a massive restructuring, which is reducing the number of employees and speeding up "turn-around time" on between-flight airplane maintenance, resulting in an increase of daily flights at its Atlanta hub to 1,051 from 970.

Customer volume on www.delta.com jumped 300 percent after the new pricing system was announced on Wednesday, said Matsen, and the last two days have seen record online sales for the company.