AIRLINES

Air Fares Set to Increase 4.4%: American Airlines retreated from a proposal to raise fares by as much as 35% in hundreds of markets, but all air carriers still were set to increase prices by about 4.4% across the board. Air fares are to rise today by about $10 to $20 in most of the 17,000-plus domestic markets, airlines said. On Tuesday, American had proposed to raise fares in 830 markets by 35% over current prices. That would bring those fares back to their levels of mid-April--when American instituted a simplified pricing system that was undercut as some rivals chopped fares. Then it would lift all fares by 4.4%. Most other airlines, however, refused to go along with the proposal and American backed away from the higher increase, saying it would implement just the 4.4% jump instead.