U.S. Airlines’ November 2023 fuel cost per gallon down 3.4% from October 2023

Jan 12, 2024

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ November 2023 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.504 billion gallons of fuel, 5.4% less fuel than in October 2023 (1.589 billion gallons) and 4.1% more than in pre-pandemic November 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in November 2023 ($3.01) was down 11 cents (3.4%) from October 2023 ($3.12) and up $1.02 (51.5%) from November 2019. Total November 2023 fuel expenditure ($4.53B) was down 8.6% from October 2023 ($4.96B) and up 57.8% from pre-pandemic November 2019.

Year-over-year changes in fuel consumption and cost for November 2023 include a 5.4% increase in domestic fuel consumption, a 4.6% decrease in domestic fuel cost, and a 9.4% decrease in cost per gallon. Domestic fuel consumption decreased 5.2% from October 2023 to November 2023, while increasing 3.2% from November 2019. Increased fuel consumption reflects an increase in airline passenger travel over the same period.

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

November 2019:	$1.99
November 2022:	$3.32
October 2023:	$3.12
November 2023:	$3.01

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

November 2019:	$2.87 billion
November 2022:	$4.64 billion
October 2023:	$4.96 billion
November 2023:	$4.53 billion

Fuel Cost and Consumption data from January 2000 to the present can be found at https://www.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. None of the cost numbers are adjusted for inflation. The month-to-month numbers are not seasonally adjusted.