The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ August 2026 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating total fuel expenditure ($6.17B) of U.S. scheduled service airlines was up 4.8% from July 2026 ($5.89B) and up 60.2% from August 2025 ($3.85B). The airlines used 1.656 billion gallons of fuel, 4.4% less fuel than in July 2026 (1.732 billion gallons) and 1.2% less fuel than August 2025 (1.677 billion gallons). The cost per gallon of fuel in August 2026 ($3.72) was up 32 cents (9.5%) from July 2026 ($3.40) and up $1.43 (62.2%) from August 2025 ($2.30).
Note: Alaska Airlines (AS) and Hawaiian Airlines (HA) have merged and now report combined fuel data under Alaska Airlines (AS).
August 2025 |
$3.85 billion |
July 2026 |
$5.89 billion |
August 2026 |
$6.17 billio |
Fuel cost per gallon for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service
August 2025 |
$2.30 |
July 2026 |
$3.40 |
August 2026 |
$3.72 |
Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service
August 2025 |
1.68 billion gallons |
July 2026 |
1.73 billion gallons |
August 2026 |
1.66 billion gallons |
Data is compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers as of September 30, 2026.
Fuel Cost and Consumption data from January 2000 to the present and 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.
