It now seems that revenues from corporate travel on US Airways are on the rise. In fact, reports from the airline claim that sales have jumped some 50 percent from its low last year. It’s still not back to pre-recession levels just yet, but the airline says that this is a great start.

So far, airlines have not been very successful with large scale fare increases. The President of US Airways, Scott Kirby, said that with more corporate travelers flying, the amount the airline collects per passenger, per mile, has risen by about 30 percent. However, much of this improvement is because yield fell so far, so fast last year.

He went on to say that corporate revenue, as well as revenue from leisure travelers, is still down about 5 percent from 2008 levels. Kirby also said that operating with separate pilot groups costs the airline about $10 million per year. Any savings from integrating the pilots will be more than erased by raises. The financial year will be negative; however, the airline is anxious to get something done here.

So far US Airways has seen its shares rise 53 cents, or about 5.5 percent, to $10.19. This is great news for the airline and even better news for the airline industry in North America. Right now, airlines need something to get excited about, because they have not been given much here lately. With things like volcanic ash clouds affecting air travel, and big oil spills causing people to not want to travel, any kind of rise is good. However, it will still be quite some time before airlines are back up to the level that they want to be at.