Zoinks !!!! $420 in fuel surcharges on airfares to Europe.

[marmar]

United Continental Holdings Incorporated (UAL), Delta Air Lines Incorporated (DAL) and rival US carriers added a record USD 420 in fuel surcharges to round-trip European fares as soaring oil prices propelled first-quarter losses, according to a Bloomberg report. Across the industry, surcharges are as much as 50 per cent greater than those put in place when fuel prices reached a record three years ago, according to air-travel website, BestFares.com.

Jet fuel has become airlines’ biggest operating expense, surpassing labor and climbing to an average USD 2.96 a gallon from January through March, up 41 per cent from a year earlier. US carriers raised surcharges and fares and trimmed expansion plans to try to preserve the full-year profitability achieved in 2010, when demand rebounded after the financial crisis.

“No one foresaw the dramatic increase that has occurred over the last three months,” Gerard Arpey, Chief Executive Officer told American Airlines employees in an April 20, 2011 e-mail. He said, “It is beyond frustrating to see the fruits of our labor wiped out by something over which we have seemingly little control.”

Combined first-quarter losses for the five biggest US airlines widened to USD 951 million from USD 892 million a year earlier. Among the five, only Southwest Airlines Co (LUV) reported a profit. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/us-airlines-surcharges-set-record-at-usd-420-as-oil-prices-climb-13257