Air Fares Climb as Delta Blinks

The impact of the industry's latest fare move won't be felt in the second-quarter results, but a string of other fare hikes -- along with strong passenger traffic -- likely boosted industry revenue during the period and put some network carriers in the black for the quarter.

Investors will get a slew of earnings reports next week, with AMR and Continental reporting before the bell Wednesday, followed by Alaska Air Group (ALK Quote), America West (AWA Quote), Delta and JetBlue on Thursday.

Low-cost carrier JetBlue is expected to continue its profitability streak, but analysts also believe Continental, Alaska, and maybe even AMR and America West, will report profits.

On Thursday, Southwest kicked off earnings season by reporting a better-than-expected profit of 20 cents a share. The airline continued to benefit from an aggressive fuel hedging program that capped most of its fuel needs well below current market prices.