Delta-Northwest deal could mean fewer cheap seats

It may be time to wave goodbye to some of those discount fares. If Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines complete a merger to form the largest U.S. airline, travelers can expect fewer deals and higher fares on some remote routes.
A combination has been rumored for weeks and reports Tuesday indicated that a deal was close.
Airlines generally try to keep flights as full as possible, and the proposed new carrier would continue that trend. "If all the planes are full," said Rick Seaney, founder of fare search site FareCompare, "they can increase prices and have them stick."
With fewer available seats, airlines cut back on the supply of cheapest seats first.
Small and mid-size markets will likely be the first to feel the squeeze, said airline consultant Michael Boyd. For example, Delta (DAL, Fortune 500) or Northwest (NWA, Fortune 500) handle most of the flights for Roanoke, Va. - those fares would likely rise as travelers' options are reduced, Boyd said.
But prices aren't likely to change much at major hubs like New York or Los Angeles, since they're already served by a large number of airlines, creating plenty of competition.
The potential for higher fares is one reason a Delta-Northwest deal would get a lot of scrutiny from antitrust regulators and Congress. At a Senate hearing a year ago, many senators expressed concern that any airline merger would produce other deals that could leave about 80% of the nation's air traffic handled by only three new mega-carriers.