As of this morning, all the legacy carriers were onboard with the $20 roundtrip increase initiated by Delta earlier this week.

This increase was across the bulk of the airlines’ respective route systems.

What this means for you and me?

Well, it means the fuel surcharge now stands at $130 roundtrip for many of the city pairs across the country (especially those city pairs that do not overlap with a low cost airline’s route).

When it comes to fees, European airlines are way ahead of us here in the States.

Take baggage fees.

Our “pay-a-fee-to-check-a-second-bag” charge is nothing compared to Ryanair’s longtime policy of “pay-a-fee-to-check-ANY-bag”.

Anyway, an airline analyst says, European carriers typically enact new policies between 8 and 18 months ahead of their American counterparts.

So what’s ahead? Cell phone and internet use fees. Maybe.

Keep reading.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA — its members represent 94% of international air traffic) said this week that about half of all airline accidents last year took place during landings.

There were 100 accidents last year, with 692 fatalities (that’s down from 2006, when there were 855). According to the IATA, “many of those accidents could have been avoided if pilots made a second attempt at the runway, or if obstacles on the ground were properly cleared.” The worst crashes were in Brazil, Indonesia, and Africa.

There were NO commercial airliner fatalities in the U.S. last year.

Rising fuel surcharges and escalating airfare aren’t just a domestic thing.

European carriers are feeling the crunch, as well, and now international travelers are feeling the burn on both sides of the Pond. Whether you’re heading overseas on a carrier based in the US or the EU, be prepared for higher fuel surcharges.

Keep reading to see which airlines currently have the highest European Fuel Surcharges…

The Wright Amendment Compromise that took effect in October of 2006 was supposed to make air travel cheaper for all of us in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Unfortunately, rising fuel prices and continuing trends of increased airfares have significantly reduced (or eliminated) those savings on a range of major routes out of DFW and Love Field.

Scott Friedman of NBC 5 Dallas/Ft. Worth spent some time with me as we dove into the numbers related to the rising costs for air travel in the DFW area and the disappearance of the savings we all hoped would stem from the Wright Compromise.

You can get Scott’s insight (and my graphs) on the subject at The Friedman Files. Also, checkout the TV news spot (3+ minutes) that ran at 10pm last night which includes an interview with me (on the NBC5i.com website). They also have comments from American Airlines’ and Southwest Airlines’ representatives on how their competition and the Wright Compromise affect air travelers flying to/from DFW.

Yesterday, in my weekly column for ABCNews.com, I wrote about the top five things that are good about mergers. It was pretty straightforward, but in some cases, my tongue was firmly lodged in cheek.

But it got me to thinking. And thinking.

So I came up with a brand NEW list that, shall we say, covers the same ground in a “slightly” more cynical manner.

Take a look; I think it will help you start your day with a smile (and I urge you: add your own items to “the list”).

NEW UPDATE (AS OF 5-9-08): ALL LEGACY CARRIERS NOW MATCH HIKE!

Last night, Delta Air Lines initiated the 15^th attempted domestic airfare increase of 2008 by raising its fuel surcharge by an additional $20 roundtrip; this surcharge affects the bulk of its route system.

The new total fuel surcharge (on numerous Delta city-pairs) is now up to a record $130 roundtrip.

Even worse, this means the total fuel surcharge combined with taxes and fees costs more than the actual base airfare on several short-haul domestic flights.

Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? Keep reading…

Bad news: according to an Associated Press article (via the New York Times), major legislation to help fix our antiquated air traffic control system and provide some “real” passenger rights “faltered” yesterday, and it may be doomed.

And Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who heads the Senate’s commerce aviation subcommittee found that incredibly frustrating:

“The aviation system is on the brink of collapse. Our air traffic control system cannot handle the burdens of today, much less tomorrow.” — Sen. Jay Rockefeller

Keep reading, and I’ll try to explain what happened and why we should get angry.

The folks at Fox Business News (Liz Claman and David Asman) will be interviewing me today at about 2pm Eastern time.

They’ll be asking about how the airlines (and passengers!) will be handling the excruciatingly high fuel costs.

If you have the time, listen in, and please comment on this.

Would you believe…fewer jerks on the plane?

Yes, that’s one of my Top Five Silver Linings when it comes to airline mergers; please click here for the entire column (and I’ll explain about those jerks).

In case you’re new here, I do a weekly column for ABCNews.com; it appears each Wednesday morning.

Last week I posted a note on which cities lost the most scheduled fall air service - a sneak peak at some of the underlying research I was doing for an article.

This week I thought it was only fair to highlight those cities on the flip side — which have gained more scheduled fall air service.

More air service is always a good sign for airline ticket prices as the main driver of price is competition. Amidst massive cutbacks related to the rise in fuel, a few cities have actually gained service — whether they were underserved or whether an airline is trying to steal some market share — these cities are definitely benefiting:

Whether due to rising airfare prices or a struggling economy, we’re seeing the first signs of softening demand for air travel. April saw a decrease in air traffic among five of the six legacy carriers, with American experiencing the largest drop from last April (6.6%). While April numbers might be a bit skewed as Easter occurred in March this year, that definitely doesn’t completely account for the overall decline in traffic.

Check out Bloomberg.com for an in depth look at April air travel and insight into how the major airlines performed.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any higher, fuel prices continue to climb. We’ve already seen cost-per-barrel rise above $120 for the first time in history, but things could get worse.

Holly over at PlaneBuzz delves into this morning’s announcement from Goldman Sachs analysts that suggests that “crude prices are now poised to potentially rise between $150 and $200/barrel…”

Check out PlaneBuzz for an in depth look at what this latest revelation from analysts could mean for travelers.

A few months ago when CNN put this salacious headline up “Southwest Airlines Flies Unsafe Planes” — I did a post asking “Where was the Beef” of the story? What other airlines had issues, what was the relationship between inspectors and airlines etc — obviously useful reporting was less important than a juicy headline.

Well! Today the “Beef” has landed!

According to an article in the Wall St. Journal, the Federal Aviation Administration “failed to perform more than 100 recommended safety reviews at major airlines in recent years.”

Interesting article in the New York Times today about Southwest and mergers.

Southwest, it seems, is quite enthusiastic about mergers — for other airlines. Southwest’s CEO says, they’re doing fine on their own, thanks, but if others want to merge (especially United and US Airways) why, they’d be happy to start seizing some of the new entity’s market share.

Merging isn’t for Southwest though; the airline is doing better than any of the others, thanks to its leaders’ foresight in hedging fuel costs, so why take on a weak partner? As I said, interesting reading.

Northwest Airlines is very tricky when it comes to filing airfares which must drive other airlines revenue management departments crazy — that along with consumers who try to find the elusive days that seats are released for these airfares.

Last night I got an alert from our system for a super low ball price from DFW-NYC.

Northwest filed a $98 roundtrip airfare betwen Dallas to New York (see the screen shot below).

Yes you read that right! This price is below the fuel surcharge on thousands of routes across the U.S. — but here is the catch …

Where and when was the first commercial flight in America? Most historians agree it took place on January 1, 1914, in Florida.

The airline was called the St. Petersburg-Tampa Air Line, and for good reason: flights began in St. Petersburg and ended up in Tampa. Not surprisingly, the trips didn’t take long — just 23 minutes from start to finish. There wasn’t much of a view, either: altitude was just 15-feet.

So what did it cost? It wasn’t cheap, as you’ll see when you keep reading…

A once unthinkable barrier has been breached; for the first time in history, the price of oil has surged past $120 a barrel.

Get out your wallets; clearly the airlines are not done with raising fuel surcharges.

Watch this space for updates.

A friend of mine recently took a trip on Northwest, and she is now a firm believer that “courtesy counts”. Here’s her story:

“While making my reservations, I got to the seat selection phase, and, as usual, there were plenty of seats you could pay extra for, but no other seats were available (at that time). This confused me, since in the past, there were always at least a couple of “free seats” to choose from, and I was getting a little worried — would I have to pay for a seat?”

Keep reading — here comes the payoff…

Well, I guess one federal ruling can’t keep the states down. Several weeks ago, we saw New York’s Sate Passenger Bill of Rights get thrown out by a federal court. The court, while in agreement with many of the bill’s goals, stated that only the federal government had the right to pass such regulations.

That ruling, however, has not stopped California from trying to push through a Passenger Bill of Rights of its own. As reported by the Sacramento Bee, passenger rights legislation was passed by the state Assembly on Thursday and now will move to the state Senate.

Keep reading to see how the airlines are reacting…

It’s taken a few weeks, but American Airlines is letting loose its attacks on the FAA. You’ll recall that during the week of April 8th, American Airlines canceled thousands of flights and disrupted travel for close to 300,000 travelers. The groundings were due to required maintenance of American’s M-80 aircraft.

When the groundings began, American Airlines was actually pretty quiet on the matter, making it difficult for passengers to get information on which and how many flights would be affected. When American finally returned to the skies in full force, apologies were made, and American Airlines reached out to its frequent fliers with bonus miles options and travel deals.

Now, it seems, American Airlines has put the apologies behind them and turned the blame on the FAA…

I did a special weekly column for ABCNews.com today which highlights the fact that the gasoline tax refund debate should be on the agenda for air travel as well.

Find out who the “real” beneficiary of higher airline tickets really is and let me know what you think?

Check out the entire story on ABCNews.com.