USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

U.S. Airlines’ October 2022 Fuel Cost per Gallon Down 1.2% from September 2022; Aviation Fuel Consumption Down 7.0% from Pre-Pandemic October 2019

Thursday, December 1, 2022

 

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ October fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.433 billion gallons of fuel, 2.3% more fuel than in September 2022 (1.401 billion gallons) and 7.0% less than in pre-pandemic October 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in October 2022 ($3.45) was down 4 cents (1.2%) from September 2022 ($3.49) and up $1.48 (75.1%) from October 2019. Total October 2022 fuel expenditure ($4.95B) was up 1.2% from September 2022 ($4.89B) and up 62.9% from pre-pandemic October 2019.

Year-over-year increases in fuel consumption and cost for October include 5.6% in domestic fuel consumption, 64.2% in domestic fuel cost, and 55.5% in cost per gallon.  Domestic fuel consumption increased 3.6% from September to October in 2022, while also decreasing 5.2% from October 2019.  Increased fuel consumption reflects an increase in airline passenger travel over the same period.

 

Line Graph of US Airlines Fuel Consumption from January 2020 to October 2022. Shows a steady increase in consumption from April 2020 to October 2022 with a slight dip from September 2022 to October 2022.

 

Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:
October 2019:            1.54 billion gallons
October 2021:            1.28 billion gallons
September 2022:       1.40 billion gallons
October 2022:            1.43 billion gallons

 

Line Graph of US airline fuel cost per gallon. A general increase trend from April 2020 to July 2022 with a decrease from July 2022 to October 2022.

 

Fuel cost per gallon for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:
October 2019:            $1.97
October 2021:            $2.23
September 2022:       $3.49
October 2022:            $3.45

Total fuel cost for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:
October 2019:           $3.04 billion
October 2021:           $2.85 billion
September 2022:      $4.89 billion
October 2022:           $4.95 billion

Fuel Cost and Consumption data from January 2000 to the present can be found at https://transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp. Summaries by month are also available.

Airline fuel costs may be affected by hedging, contracts that allow airlines to limit exposure to future price changes. 

Individual airline numbers through June 2022 are available on the BTS website. 

 

Please Note:
The information provided within BTS statistical releases may not be based on 100% of reporting carriers. Generally, data are released per schedule if reports have been received from at least 90% of the carriers, along with data from all the major carriers. Regarding this release, the following carriers remain pending: Elite Airways (2HQ), Caribbean Sun Airlines (WL) and Kalitta Charters II (KLQ).  Also, within text, percent change results may not be exact due to rounding.

###