U.S. Airlines’ February 2023 Fuel Cost per Gallon Down 1.7% from January 2022; Aviation Fuel Consumption Up 1.3% from Pre-Pandemic February 2019

 

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) released U.S. airlines’ February 2023 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.307 billion gallons of fuel, 7.5% less fuel than in January 2023 (1.413 billion gallons) and 1.3% more than in pre-pandemic February 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in February 2023 ($3.23) was down 5 cents (1.7%) from January 2023 ($3.28) and up $1.25 (63.1%) from February 2019. Total February 2023 fuel expenditure ($4.22B) was down 9.0% from January 2023 ($4.63B) and up 64.6% from pre-pandemic February 2019. Fuel cost and consumption statistics are not adjusted for inflation or seasonality.

Year-over-year increases in fuel consumption and cost for February 2023 include 10.6% in domestic fuel consumption, 38.9% in domestic fuel cost, and 25.6% in cost per gallon.  Domestic fuel consumption decreased 6.7% from January 2023 to February 2023, while increasing 3.7% from February 2019. Increased fuel consumption reflects an increase in airline passenger travel over the same period.

 

 

Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:

February 2019:          1.29 billion gallons

February 2022:          1.14 billion gallons 

January 2023:            1.41 billion gallons

February 2023:          1.31 billion gallons

 

 

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

February 2019:          $1.98 

February 2022:          $2.60 

January 2023:            $3.28 

February 2023:          $3.23

 

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

February 2019:          $2.56 billion 

February 2022:          $2.98 billion 

January 2023:            $4.63 billion 

February 2023:          $4.22 billion

 

 

Fuel Cost and Consumption data from January 2000 to the present can be found at https://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. 

Individual airline numbers through September 2022 are available on the BTS website.

Tags: The Department of Transportation’s Bureau, Transportation Statistics (BTS), US DOT