U.S. Airlines’ October 2024 fuel cost per gallon down 1.7% from September 2024

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ October 2024 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.577 billion gallons of fuel, 2.9% more fuel than in September 2024 (1.532 billion gallons) and 2.3% more than in pre-pandemic October 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in October 2024 ($2.29) was down 4 cents (1.7%) from September 2024 ($2.33) and up $0.32 (16.1%) from October 2019. Total October 2024 fuel expenditure ($3.61B) was up 1.2% from September 2024 ($3.56B) and up 18.8% from pre-pandemic October 2019.

Year-over-year changes in fuel consumption and cost for October 2024 includes a 2.1% decrease in domestic fuel consumption, an 28.6% decrease in domestic fuel cost, and a 27.1% decrease in cost per gallon. Domestic fuel consumption increased 4.1% from September 2024 to October 2024, while increasing 1.7% from October 2019. Increased fuel consumption reflects an increase in airline passenger travel over the same period.