Northwest lowered prices Thursday by $5 to $10 each way for flights Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which are its slowest travel days, the company told workers in a phone message Friday.

The airline raised prices $10 to $15 each way for the rest of the week.

The changes apply to hundreds of markets where Northwest competes with Delta Airlines, both for direct destinations from Detroit such as Atlanta and routes where Delta offers connecting service, such as San Francisco.

Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest hopes the changes will lead passengers more concerned with price than a schedule to book Tuesday or Wednesday, filling those planes.

The airline frees up seats on its more popular flights during the rest of the week for passengers who might pay more to meet their schedules.

The recent pricing changes are another way Northwest tries to boost revenue as it reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and battles rising fuel costs.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch declined to say how much the pricing plan could generate for the company.

In another plan to raise revenue, Northwest started to charge $15 for passengers to reserve some of its exit and aisle-row seats last month, a plan Northwest expects to generate at least $15 million in revenue this year.

Northwest's pricing plan to divide the week isn't new to the airline or to the industry.

Typically, flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays have more seats available and offer cheaper fares than the rest of the week, said Anne McCulloch, owner of Premium Travel Services in Royal Oak.

"As long as you're a leisure traveler, those days are the key days," she said.

But McCulloch said she doubts the fare decreases would make many travelers change their plans to the middle of the week to save $10 to $20.

"If they have a family of five, they might consider adjusting their schedule," because the savings can add up.

In the complex world of airfares, numerous factors can affect a price, such as the number of seats available when you book, the various price points they're selling for, low costs from competitors and fare sales.

With airlines under competitive pressure, fare sales -- which are in full swing to attract spring travelers -- can counteract the effects of such a pricing plan.

In other Northwest news, to help offset high jet fuel prices, the airline added about $10 Thursday to surcharges each way for fuel on international tickets sold in the United States and Mexico.

In a phone message to workers Friday, Northwest said it is matching an increase American launched. For instance, the changes bumped the fuel charge for Northwest flights from the United States to Europe and to the Middle East to $65 each way.

Source: Detroit Free Press