So far this year, The Airline Have Been Able to Raise Ticket Prices Repeatedly stills while filling Their plane. It has-been a lucrative formula.

Goal With The Economy Slowing Down Again, The Stock Market and High Oil Prices sputtering cutting Into Household Budgets, The Airline May Be harder pressed to Keep Their fares up and packed flat, at least Without Resorting to "significant cuts in capacity When The summer vacation season is over.

Some warning signs are Already There. The airlines failed to raise fares Have in six of seven Their sincere efforts March, Suggesting That Some Passengers May Be balking at The Higher ticket prices. "Airlines Have overreached," Said George Hobic, The Founder of AirFareWatchdog.com.

Still, The airlines &&9;aggressive pricing Strategy has WORKED well for&&9; em.Every major airline has managed to squeeze more revenue out of this year icts Passengers, not just thanks to Higher fares goal aussi à un Growing multitude of fees. In May, for instance, United Continental Holdings Reported That icts Estimated revenue per passenger WAS 14 to 15 Percent Higher Than a year ago, while Southwest Airlines Said That HAD Risen measure 11 to 12 percent.

It has not hurt mergers That Have Fewer airlines and left optometrist Have taken a more disciplined approach "to controlling capacity.

For the summer, The Traditionally Busiest air travel season of the Year, demand for airline seats Remains Strong. The Air Transport Association, The Airline Trade Group Expects 206 Million People Will Fly in June-through August, 5.1 percent of year Increase over last year. The Associations Events Expect the number of international flights Passengers are this summer to break last year&&9;s record.

Fares, meanwhile, are seen at The Highest Peak Their sincere in the Third Quarter of 2008, hit When The Financial Crisis, According to statistics compiled by The Department of Transportation.

While fares change daily, The cheapest round-trip nonstop flight from New York to Las Vegas For the July 4 weekend is Friday WAS selling for $ 597. The cheapest flight from San Francisco to Boston and back, Operated by United Airlines, WAS selling for $ 664, but thats included one stop. Southwest Airlines WAS charging $ 703.80 for The Trip, and That Was With A stop in Both directions. A weekend in Paris est aussi expensive - with round-trip fares for direct flights starting at $ 1.442 on American Airlines out of New York.

And do not count thesis figures the extra fees airlines now The charge for checked bags to Everything from priority boarding to reservation, exchange or fuel surcharges in the international flights.

"It&&9;s getting ridiculously expensive," Said Kevin Currie With The Teamsters union representative, Who Said Might he soon curtail visits to relative in Florida if Kept Rising Ticket Prices. "There are more people flying right now, so Should not Their Prices go down?"

Of course, do not think The Airline That Way. Since more Passengers are vying for Every available seat, THEY CAN keep raising fares and stills Fill Their plane.

There are cheaper fares Aim To Be Had. Mr. Hobic, of AirFareWatchdog.com, travelers Noted That "could" still buy a $ 280 round-trip fare Between Newark and Los Angeles Between July 3 and July 11, for example. "If you are Willing to Be Flexible, There are deals."

Steve Tilston, The senior director for analysis at Expedia, the online travel agent year, Agreed."Flights are getting a little more expensive but leur happening uniformly."

Given The steeper fares, travelers Some May Be Tempted to drive INSTEAD, despite The Rise in gasoline prices. One Web site, BeFrugal humidifier.com, Developed year online application that helps travelers compute The total cost of flying vs. The Time Needed to Drive Between Any cities.

The Web site calculater That It Would Take Four hours and 50 minutes to get from a Specific Locations in Salt Lake City to downtown Los Angeles by air, and cost $ 762, Including cab fares Along the Way. La même trip Could Be Made by driving about 11 hours for a total round-trip cost of $ 292.

Certainly this has not Been an Easy année pour la airlines. While air travel has Recovered From The recession, Fuel Prices Have surged this year. In addition, The earthquake and tsunami in Japan & the instability in the Middle East to cut travel Those seats.As a result, the International Air Transport Association pour la Slashed icts forecast global industry this week&&9;s Profitability. The global trade group Said It Expected airline profits to fall sharply this year. Profits for North American carriers to drop Will $ 1.2 billion this year, one billion from $ 4.1 last year, The Group said.

Nicholas E. Calio, The President of the Air Transport Association, The trade group for United States carriers, has voiced similar concerned. The association Said That In The First Quarter of the Year, domestic airlines $ 11.4 Spent fuel is one billion, a 30 percent Increase From The Same Period in 2010.

"Even as demand for air travel continued to Improve, high and volatile Energy Prices Could Hamper Recovery Efforts," Mr. Calio said.

Still, The Airline Have Long Been adept at fine-tuning to Maximize Their fares are EACH flight back.Ray Neidl, a senior aerospace specialist at Maxim Group, a brokerage firm Institutional year in New York, Said he Would Be Expected That flights packed Through the summer but thats The Airline Might Have to Make Some Major Adjustment in The Fall.

"This Is the first cycle I Have Ever Seen Where the Airline Industry has strong discipline in controlling HAD capacity," Mr. Neidl said.

The airlines Already Have a drop in demand Anticipated In The Fall and Have Started to take steps to curb Their capacity by The End of the Year.

Delta, Air France KLM and Alitalia, Which Operate a Joint Venture Between The flights are United States and Europe, THEY Said Planned to slash The Seat THEY offer by As Much as 9 percent after The Summit.

In the Meantime, the Numbers Remain strong pour la airlines.Said Delta passenger traffic this week That in May rose by 2.2 Percent Compared With Last Year icts while load factor - Or The Percentage of seats filled That Are - Was Nearly 84 percent. On American Airlines, The load factor is 86 percent domestic flights in May WAS.

Tim Winship, the publisher of FrequentFlyer.com, Said Such numbers Were a sharp shift for the Industry, Which Only a Few Years ago WAS Satisfied With filling 65 to 75 percent of seats.

"Be Prepared to your own Claustrophobia confronted When flying this summer, Because It Is Going To Be congested," Mr. Winship said. "This is going to translate Directly Into High Levels of discomfort for Customers. "If you are thinking of empty middle seat HAVING year is your flights this summer, the odds are very good That You Will Be Disappointed."

Ask Liz Elder, Who stepped off a flight from Salt Lake City to visit one of Her sounds Recently in New York.It Was Her fifth time flying sincere February. "Every flight I&&9;ve been there this year has been" absolutely packed, "she said. "Planes are absolutely stuffed."

Airlines, Now Flush With Revenue and Passengers, a downturn Fear