Rising oil prices, meanwhile, are cutting into airline profits, pushing carriers to demand better performance and longer range from the new planes they buy.

Those costs would have to be passed on to consumers or taken out of airline profits.

The forecasts indicate that airline profits will return to 1985 levels.

Industry analysts describe the latest changes as minor compared with the half-off discounts that exhausted travel agents and battered airline profits.

On the other hand, oil prices clearly will have an effect on airline profits.

But business travelers, while providing the bulk of airline profits, make up only about 8 percent of passengers.

He estimated that overall airline profits fell 11 percent to 12 percent in the quarter compared with results in the quarter a year earlier.

We're the innocent here on the ground while airline profits increase.

That translates into lower airline profits and lower spending on spare parts.

For all their success last year, however, airline profits were lousy compared with the average for American industry.