sent ticket prices down by 35 percent.

But ticket buyers who want a bargain have to move quickly as the slashed prices for domestic and trans-Atlantic flights are not expected to continue through the peak summer travel period.

An American Airlines agent last night quoted a $178 round-trip fare on its New York-Bermuda (or vice-versa) route. But she said buyers had to complete their travel plans by June 30 and travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday.

And a Northwest agent said the airline was offering the same $178 fare on its Boston route, but with different conditions attached: You had to purchase the discount ticket by this Friday and travel on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Travel also had to be completed by June 30, she said.

The reductions -- initiated Sunday by Northwest Airlines -- sent carriers stocks into a nose dive on Monday, but analysts said traders were overreacting.

The nation's three largest airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines, quickly matched the Northwest discounts.

Airlines stocks have rallied about 10 percent in the past few weeks on views carriers will begin to post profits later this year. The industry lost $10 billion between 1990 and 1992 due to a traffic slowdown from the Gulf War and the recession.

The fare cuts are viewed as a stimulus for summer travel, rather than a repeat of the severe discounting seen last summer when airlines cut fares as much as 50 percent and the industry registered heavy losses.