According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, due to an increase in demand, the average domestic airline fare increased from $319.85 in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $328.12 in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of $8.27. The number of passenger tickets sold in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 151.4 million. Over the same period, the airlines' costs remained roughly the same: the price of jet fuel averaged around $2 per gallon in both quarters (Source: Energy Information Administration), and airline pilots' salaries remained roughly the same (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they averaged $117,060 per year in 2009).
Can you determine precisely by how much producer surplus has increased as a result of the $8.27 increase in the average fare? If you cannot be precise, can you determine whether it will be less than, or more than, a specific amount?