NEW YORK – Turns out that new airline checked-bag fee wasn’t the end of it.Airlines ratcheted up the pressure on fliers ahead of the holiday weekend, significantly raising ticket prices to offset the runaway cost of fuel. The three biggest carriers each boosted most domestic fares by up to $60 round trip, while budget airline AirTran Airways raised its leisure fares by $30 round trip.UAL Corp.’s United Airlines led the round of increases late Thursday, lifting round-trip ticket prices by $10 to $60, depending on how far passengers fly and the competition on the route. Travelers will pay the biggest increase on routes of 750 miles or more – less than the distance from New York to Chicago – that lowcost carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. do not serve.”It’s part of all the work that we’re doing to try to offset fuel costs,” spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, the biggest U.S. carrier, and No. 3 Delta Air Lines Inc. matched the increase Friday.Separately, AirTran raised leisure ticket prices by $30 and business-class fares by $50 round trip. Such a large change is unusual for a budget carrier.The increases came just days after American said it would begin charging customers $15 to check a single piece of luggage. Representatives from a number of other carriers, many of which are already charging $25 for a second checked bag, said they are considering following suit.Midwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, meanwhile, became the latest carriers to announce charges for second checked bags. Neither introduced fees to check a single bag.Frontier also said Friday that it will charge more for unaccompanied children’s tickets and oversized luggage. It also will prohibit pets from traveling in passenger cabins and implement other changes as it works through restructuring under bankruptcy protection.”We have taken numerous proactive steps to keep our fuel costs as low as possible without impacting our customers,” Frontier Chief Executive Officer Sean Menke said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we need to review our fee structure to help offset this incredible increase in fuel.”Airlines have come under intense pressure to boost revenue and cut costs as the cost of fuel has soared. Chicago-based United has been among the most aggressive carriers in pushing fares and fuel surcharges higher, and its increases are often rapidly matched by competitors. Airlines are prohibited from agreeing to simultaneously raise fares, but nothing prevents them from following a rival’s lead.On Wall Street, airline stocks took a beating as oil prices resumed their climb, with benchmark light, sweet crude rising $1.38 to settle at $132.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Shares of UAL, Delta, Northwest and US Airways Group Inc. each hit their lowest points since the carriers emerged from bankruptcy protection, while AirTran shares were trading at their lowest point in more than five years. AMR shares hit a multiyear low Wednesday.

The Rev. Willie J. Sutton Jr. became pastor of St. John’s Baptist Church in September, filling the shoes of the Rev. Milton E. Proby, who died in 2005. Sutton grew up in Chicago, in a family of preachers. Photo by ( JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)