Yahoo News
Mon Aug 25, 2:36 PM ET
DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co. has published its schedule and fares for early next year, a move that could spur rivals to lower their fares for the period, an airfare observer said Monday.
Many airlines takes reservations nearly a year in advance, but Southwest usually goes out only about six months.
Recently, the Dallas-based carrier issued its schedule and prices for Jan. 9 through March 6. The new schedule has forced other major airlines to roll back fares they had been charging to match Southwest's lower prices on many routes, said Tom Parsons, chief executive of travel Web site Bestfares.com.
Parsons said the old rule of booking farther in advance to save money doesn't always hold true. He said other airlines will probably charge higher fares for travel after March of next year.
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