Apparently many major airlines from all over the world have matched a $10 increase in the price of many round trip tickets. This makes it seem very likely that the latest boost in airfare will stick this time around. Other airlines have increased rates during the recession before, but due to the fact that other airlines kept their rates low, the increase never stuck around for too long.

Such airlines like United Airlines and US Airways have now matched the increase, which has already been put in place by American Airlines, Continental, and Delta. The CEO of FareCompare.com, Rick Seaney, said that this will actually be the fifth increase in United States airline prices this year. Although some airlines do roll back airfare increases after a day or two, he was sure that this new increase was going to stick. This is due to the fact that many big name airlines matched the price hike so quickly.

Some of the low cost airlines, like AirTran and Southwest Airlines, had a special three day fare sale going on during the price hike. Thus, these two airlines did not immediately match the $10 increase in rates.

The chief financial officer of American Airlines, Thomas Horton, said that earlier this week the airlines found some pricing power, but this was not enough to boost fares high enough to earn a profit. Thus, although this new price hike is good news for the airlines and bad news for the passengers, the airline industry still has a long ways to go before it starts turning out good profit again.