Mr. Buffett has watched the value of his stock decline as USAir struggled with low-fare competition and a number of crashes.

Satisfying their bosses' directives to save money, consultants are more often using videoconferencing or flying out of airports that have low-fare competition, like Baltimore-Washington International.

The move is in part a defensive measure against new low-fare competition.

A. What is working against the industry right now is a lack of fare increases, growing low-fare competition and uncertainties surrounding airport security.

The main reasons were "the introduction of simplified fares and more low-fare competition," said Andy McGraw, a senior vice president.

The high labor costs and low-fare competition combined in the last year with skyrocketing prices for jet fuel, heightening the airline's financial crisis.

"We are witnessing a resurgence of low-fare competition from airlines whose cost structures enable them to offer the lower prices that consumers demand."

On the domestic front, airlines face tough low-fare competition, but international routes are a different story.

New York in particular is ripe for low-fare competition.

Delta, based in Atlanta, says it faces low-cost, low-fare competition from carriers like Valujet and Southwest Airlines in about 60 percent of its domestic markets.