Short interest jumped in shares of airline companies as the companies struggled with soaring fuel prices and worries about a weaker U.S. economy -- problems which have forced several small airlines into bankruptcy protection and prompted others to merge. Short interest was up more than 38 percent in AirTran, up almost 29 percent in Delta and up over 14 percent in shares of Southwest. About 24.6 million AirTran shares, 24.9 million Delta shares and 34.9 million Southwest shares were held short, representing about 26.6 percent, 8.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of each company's total shares outstanding.
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