Flying fares

Richard Anderson, soon to be — maybe — the boss of whatever’s left of Northwest Airlines — says airline fares have to go up “pretty significantly.” He made his comments on CNBC on Thursday. (See video here)

How significantly? Pick a number. Anderson wouldn’t say specifically, partly because his questioners were more interested in how many flights get taken out of the airline (12-13% by the end of the year, Anderson said).

“We estimate that the industry revenue would have to go up 15-20%,” he said.

That’s on top of any recent increases. For example, here on News Cut we’ve been tracking a simple flight fare from Minneapolis to Chicago. As of today, that’ll run you $459.54. About three months ago, the same ticket went for $384.

Anderson, currently the boss of Delta, says the takeover of Northwest makes more sense now that the crude oil market has gone ballistic in the time since it was announced earlier this spring.