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

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).