Kiowa-
Interesting idea. Just up the prices. Let me ask you though. Have you ever compared prices on goods and gone for the cheaper one? Take JetBlue for example...long flight between NY & LAX. You get free tv allowing you to choose the movie you want and a pretty comfortable seat. No first class, but hey, how often do you fly there anyway? Not much. Lastly, you have a bunch of excited employees who seem to like what they do and treat passengers nicely. Now look at most legacy carriers. Half of what I said about JetBlue doesn't apply. Why pay $4, $12, or even $0.50 more to fly a legacy carrier for worse service. Now from the legacy carrier's standpoint, beofre you say just to improve the service. If they can't make money doing it on the cheap, where do they get the capital to remake it???
As for your statement re: Northwest not raising fares...keep in mind that the fares that are being raised are the old structure fares that are rarely purchased. They are used primarily for two thing, to base sale fares off off (% of of structured fares is what they typically refer to when they say X% off), and corporate discounts. In an arena where business travelers are finding LCC fares to be as cheap or cheaper without the hassle of maintaining a quota with a carrier of choice, we're seeing less fares purchased in that arena as well. So, your point flies out the window about NW on that as well.
