Orbitz Worldwide Inc. said it’s eliminating air booking fees through May 31, matching similar moves by rivals Expedia Inc. and Priceline.com Inc.

Analysts characterized the Orbitz announcement as too late to help the Chicago-based online travel company gain needed market share as fewer travelers take to the skies in the recession.

Orbitz was third in revenues in 2008 behind publicly traded U.S. rivals Expedia and Priceline.com, which cut their air booking fees last month and 2007, respectively.

Fee reductions implemented earlier by competitors could end up placing “additional competitive pressures” on Orbitz as revenue slips, said George Askew, analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, in a research note Tuesday. Askew estimated the removal of air booking fees could cost Orbitz up to $12 million in revenue through May 31.

Decreased travel demand will make it even harder for Orbitz to combat competitors, UBS Securities analyst Kevin Crissey said in a research note published April 1.

“We view [online travel agency] stocks as reasonably valued,” Crissey said. “However, until we have some data to suggest a pickup in travel demand we cannot get excited about the shares.”

Brian Hoyt, vice president of corporate communications and government affairs at Orbitz, said any loss of revenue from fee cuts would be more than offset by the $40 million to $45 million in annual savings the company expects from previously announced layoffs and other expense cuts.

Hoyt said eliminating air booking fees was a natural progression from the company’s July 2008 initiative, where Orbitz automatically sends a customer who has booked a flight a check for the difference if another Orbitz customer subsequently books the same ticket at a lower published fare. Orbitz will promote eliminated booking fees in tandem with an ongoing sale on hotel booking prices, he added.

But booking fees may not be as important to customers as the travel industry might think. Larry Kephart, visiting Millennium Park after a flight from St. Louis, Mo. Tuesday, said fees that travel companies tack on don’t affect him one way or another.

“I’m the type of person, if I want it I’m just gonna pay for it,” said Kephart, who booked his hotel room through Priceline.com. “If it’s $20 [in fees] here and there, I’ll buy it. In the scheme of things it’s not a big deal.”

Nearby, Washington, D.C.-based traveler Karen Serroka shrugged off booking fees. A good experience with Expedia on a previous trip was all it took to prompt her to book with the Orbitz competitor again.

“It didn’t seem like booking fees had any impact” on the price of airline tickets when comparing online travel site deals with flights offered directly by the airlines, Serroka said.

Shares of Orbitz closed at $1.35 Tuesday, up 1 cent, or less than one percent, from Monday’s close of $1.34.