U.S. airlines’ February 2024 fuel cost per gallon up 4.8% from January 2024

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ February 2024 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.392 billion gallons of fuel, 4.4% less fuel than in January 2024 (1.456 billion gallons) and 7.9% more than in pre-pandemic February 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in February 2024 ($2.83) was up 13 cents (4.8%) from January 2024 ($2.70) and up $0.85 (42.9%) from February 2019. Total February 2024 fuel expenditure ($3.94B) was up 0.3% from January 2024 ($3.93B) and up 53.9% from pre-pandemic February 2019.

Year-over-year changes in fuel consumption and cost for February 2024 include a 3.2% increase in domestic fuel consumption, a 9.5% decrease in domestic fuel cost, and a 12.3% decrease in cost per gallon. Domestic fuel consumption decreased 2.2% from January 2024 to February 2024, while increasing 6.8% from February 2019. Increased fuel consumption reflects an increase in airline passenger travel over the same period.

Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:

February 2019: 1.29 billion gallons February 2023: 1.31 billion gallons January 2024: 1.46 billion gallons February 2024: 1.39 billion gallons

Fuel cost per gallon for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:

February 2019: $1.98 February 2023: $3.22 January 2024: $2.70 February 2024: $2.83

Total fuel cost for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:

February 2019: $2.56 billion February 2023: $4.21 billion January 2024: $3.93 billion February 2024: $3.94 billion