Why don’t they raise fares?
They have. Fares have gone up about 14% while at the same time fuel cost has gone up around close to 50%. Do the math. If they double the fares to match the cost of fuel people will stop flying and the Net result is the same. Bankrupt airlines.
Unless and until our elected officials get off the backs of “Big Oil” and turn them lose to find and produce oil in this country for use within this country, matters will only get worse.
I seriously doubt that a fuel price "surcharge" could cause a "doubling of fares"--you're forgetting all the OTHER parts of the balance sheet that those fares have to pay (salaries, maintenance, depreciation, etc.,etc.).