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

U.S. Airlines’ May 2026 Aviation Fuel Cost up 3.0%, Consumption up 3.5%, and Fuel Cost per Gallon down 0.5% from April 2026

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

BTS 26-57

This release is published on a fixed schedule as required by the Office of Management and Budget, and statistics in this release may be revised when inputs to the statistics are corrected or updated. Data on the program page of this website are the most up-to-date and complete. All costs are in current dollars. All fuel consumption data is in regard to fuel paid for by the carrier.

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ May 2026 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating total fuel expenditure ($6.66B) of U.S. scheduled service airlines was up 3.0% from April 2026 ($6.47B) and up 83.9% from May 2025 ($3.62B). The airlines used 1.627 billion gallons of fuel, 3.5% more fuel than in April 2026 (1.573 billion gallons) and 0.6% less fuel than May 2025 (1.636 billion gallons). The cost per gallon of fuel in May 2026 ($4.09) was down 2 cents (0.5%) from April 2026 ($4.11) and up $1.88 (85.0%) from May 2025 ($2.21).

Note: Alaska Airlines (AS) and Hawaiian Airlines (HA) have merged and now report combined fuel data under Alaska Airlines (AS).

 

Total fuel cost for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service
May 2025$3.62 billion
April 2026$6.47 billion
May 2026$6.66 billion
This 2-D line chart1 illustrates U.S airlines fuel cost per gallon for scheduled service by time. The x-axis represents time on a scale from Jan-20 to May-26, and the y-axis represents fuel cost per gallon in dollars.2 During this time, the fuel cost per gallon dips to the lowest value ($1.03) in May-20, and increased to the highest value in June 22 ($4.04), then with a downward trend from Jun-22 to May-25 ($2.21). The fuel cost per gallon increases between May-25 and May-26 (4.09) 3,4,5
Fuel cost per gallon for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service
May 2025$2.21
April 2026$4.11
May 2026$4.09

 

This 2-D line chart1 illustrates U.S airlines fuel consumption for scheduled service by time. The x-axis represents time on a scale from Jan-20 to May-26, and the y-axis represents fuel consumption in millions of gallons.2 During this time, the fuel consumption dips to the lowest value (447 million of gallons) in Apr. 20, then with an upward trend from May-20 to May-26 (1,627 million of gallons). 3,4,5
Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service
May 20251.64 billion gallons
April 20261.57 billion gallons
May 20261.63 billion gallons


Fuel Cost and Consumption data from January 2000 to the present and 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. None of the cost numbers are adjusted for inflation. The month-to-month numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

Individual airline numbers through March 2026 are available on the BTS website. 

Please Note:
The information provided within BTS statistical releases may not be based on 100% of the carriers required to report. Generally, data is released per schedule if reports have been received from at least 90% of the carriers, along with data from all the major carriers. Also, within text, percent change results may not be exact due to rounding.

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