US airlines’ 2021 total fuel use decreases 25% from pre-pandemic 2019

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ December Fuel Cost and Consumption numbers indicating U.S. airlines used 1.35 billion gallons of fuel, 7.5% more fuel than in November 2021 and 13.2% less than in pre-pandemic December 2019. At $2.14, the cost per gallon of fuel in November 2021 was down 17 cents (7.4%) from November’s $2.31 and up 14 cents (7.0%) from December 2019’s $2.00 per gallon. To date, the pandemic-low fuel cost per gallon was May 2020’s $1.03. Total December 2021 fuel cost ($2.88B) was up 0.68% from November 2021 ($2.90B) and down 7.54% from pre-pandemic December 2019 ($3.11B).

For the year, U.S. airlines used 13.78 billion gallons of fuel, a 24.6% decrease from pre-pandemic 2019’s 18.27 billion gallons. Average fuel cost per gallon in 2021 was $1.98, a 2.0% decrease from 2019’s $2.00. In 2021, the airlines spent $27.2 billion on fuel, a decrease of 25.3% from 2019’s $36.5 billion.

Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines scheduled service:

December 2019:  1.55 billion gallons

December 2020:   918 million gallons

November 2021:  1.25 billion gallons

December 2021:  1.35 billion gallons

2019 total:  18.27 billion gallons

2020 total:  10.28 billion gallons

2021 total:  13.78 billion gallons

Fuel cost per gallon by U.S. airlines scheduled service:

December 2019:    $2.00

December 2020:    $1.45

November 2021:    $2.31

December 2021:    $2.14

2019 average:     $2.00

2020 average:     $1.43 

2021 average:     $1.98

Total fuel cost for U.S. airlines scheduled service:

December 2019:   $3.11 billion

December 2020:   $1.33 billion

November 2021:   $2.90 billion 

December 2021:   $2.88 billion

2019 total:   $36.5 billion

2020 total:   $14.7 billion

2021 total:   $27.2 billion