Analysis by American Express found high fuel prices and airline losses resulted in increasing fares for business travelers. The average fare paid for business travel rose during the second quarter of 2008 to $260, up from $236 in the second quarter of 2007. However, fuel prices started declining in the fall of 2008. The file entitled Busfares contains sample prices paid by business travelers in the first quarter of 2009.

a. Determine the sample average fare for business travelers in the first quarter of 2009.

b. If the average has not changed since the second quarter of 2008, determine the sampling error.

c. If this data were normally distributed, determine the probability that the sample mean would be as far away from the population mean or more so.

d. Does it appear that the average business traveler’s fare has changed since 2008’s second quarter?
Explain.