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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05289/589463.stm Unlocking mystery behind air fares Sunday, October 16, 2005 By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <Here's how it works: Airlines receive fares updates three times a day -- at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. during the week and once a day on Saturday and Sunday -- from the Airline Tariff Publishing Co., a for-profit company owned by 24 international carriers. The company tracks the fare changes on two mainframe computers from Washington's Dulles Airport and distributes them to all reservation systems and airlines simultaneously. When airlines receive the fare information about their competitors, it forces thousands or millions of split-second decisions about whether to match prices up or down, or adjust a plane's pricing distribution based on the pace of bookings. US Airways, for example, has 2,000 flights a day. Looking ahead at demand for the next 335 days means examining 730,000 flights. The number of fares on those flights could be in the millions. "It's actually mind-boggling," Mr. Trippler said.> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 1st Young Goans International Essay contest 2005 | | | | Theme: WHAT CAN I DO FOR GOA | | More details at | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/034190.html | --------------------------------------------------------------------------
