Airlines Find Some Relief

A Southwest spokeswoman confirmed that when the airline does raise fares, it typically does so by $2 or $3 each way, depending on a route's length.

Even though the industry will get some welcome added revenue from the hikes, it likely won't be enough to mitigate the pain of oil prices, which are on the rise again. Crude oil futures nudged closer to $52 a barrel Monday and are at their highest levels since late October.

"You have the good event of the fare increase, but it's offset by the negative event of the oil prices," Benchmark's Becker said.