May 2026 fuel price
$4.09
+85.1% from May 2025
May consumption
1.627B
-0.6% year over year
May fuel expense
$6.66B
+83.9% from May 2025
2026 YTD average
$3.27
7.607 billion gallons • $24.875 billion

Annual Average Fuel Price, 2000–2025

Average cost per gallon paid by U.S. scheduled carriers. Annual values include domestic and international operations.

Annual Consumption

Total system fuel consumed, in billions of gallons.

Annual Fuel Expense

Total industry fuel cost, in billions of dollars.

Latest 24 Months

Monthly domestic, international and combined average price per gallon. The sharp increase beginning in March 2026 is immediately visible.

Flightline Intel readout: U.S. scheduled airlines paid an average of $4.09 per gallon in May 2026, up from $2.21 one year earlier. Consumption was nearly unchanged, but monthly fuel expense rose to $6.66 billion, an increase of about 83.9 percent.

Monthly Data Table

The newest month appears first. Consumption is shown in millions of gallons and cost in millions of dollars.

MonthDomestic gallonsDomestic $/galInternational gallonsInternational $/galTotal gallonsTotal costTotal $/gal
May 20261,067.2$4.05559.7$4.171,626.8$6,659.4M$4.09
Apr 20261,047.9$4.07524.5$4.191,572.5$6,467.3M$4.11
Mar 20261,080.1$3.22535.2$3.081,615.3$5,124.1M$3.17
Feb 2026904.1$2.39447.8$2.401,351.9$3,232.9M$2.39
Jan 2026937.8$2.35502.8$2.351,440.6$3,391.6M$2.35
Dec 20251,067.5$2.30546.7$2.341,614.2$3,739.7M$2.32
Nov 2025990.3$2.43492.9$2.401,483.2$3,586.1M$2.42
Oct 20251,069.0$2.35538.9$2.341,608.0$3,766.9M$2.34
Sep 2025982.0$2.30531.7$2.311,513.7$3,487.6M$2.30
Aug 20251,080.8$2.30596.3$2.291,677.1$3,850.7M$2.30
Jul 20251,148.1$2.34612.3$2.331,760.4$4,115.8M$2.34
Jun 20251,104.8$2.21579.2$2.231,684.0$3,733.6M$2.22
May 20251,080.9$2.20555.3$2.231,636.3$3,620.8M$2.21
Apr 20251,044.5$2.31530.4$2.311,574.9$3,633.9M$2.31
Mar 20251,076.7$2.40531.8$2.421,608.6$3,876.3M$2.41
Feb 2025914.1$2.44444.2$2.461,358.3$3,324.7M$2.45
Jan 2025958.8$2.43496.5$2.421,455.3$3,525.2M$2.42
Dec 20241,063.4$2.32534.0$2.331,597.3$3,713.9M$2.33
Nov 20241,005.1$2.31489.5$2.301,494.6$3,450.6M$2.31
Oct 20241,047.7$2.28527.8$2.311,575.6$3,611.8M$2.29
Sep 20241,009.2$2.31522.5$2.361,531.7$3,563.6M$2.33
Aug 20241,104.1$2.45580.8$2.511,684.9$4,162.6M$2.47
Jul 20241,136.8$2.58598.0$2.581,734.8$4,475.4M$2.58
Jun 20241,103.4$2.54579.6$2.541,683.0$4,274.4M$2.54
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, F-41 Schedule P-12A. May 2026 data are preliminary. Airline fuel costs may be affected by hedging. BTS notes that individual-carrier gallons can be distorted when fuel paid for by another party is subtracted from reported consumption. Data shown here cover U.S. carriers operating scheduled service.