Airfares have climbed a lot this year, largely because airlines are paying considerably more for fuel. But travelers hoping cheaper oil will spell cheaper ticket prices might be disappointed.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian suggested during the airline’s 2026 third-quarter earnings call on October 9 that recent fare increases could stick around, even after fuel prices return to more normal levels.
Bastian acknowledged that Delta has raised fares by roughly 20% this year to offset higher fuel costs. What surprised the airline, though, was how little resistance it encountered from customers.
Speaking about consumers’ willingness to pay more, Bastian described the response as an encouraging sign for the industry’s future.
And Delta isn’t particularly eager to give up those pricing gains when fuel becomes cheaper.
Airfares Are Up More Than 23% in a Year
The latest government figures show just how much more Americans are paying to fly.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, airline fares increased 23.4% between August 2025 and August 2026, substantially outpacing the 3.4% increase in overall consumer prices during the same period.
August’s airfare index was also approximately 19% higher than in August 2019 (before the pandemic).
The increase hasn’t exactly been steady. Fares reached their highest point of 2026 so far in May before declining somewhat over the summer. Even after that retreat, August prices remained considerably higher than a year earlier.
The government’s airfare index measures changes in ticket prices rather than the average cost of a flight. It also reflects industry-wide pricing, not just Delta’s fares.
Why Cheaper Fuel Might Not Mean Cheaper Flights
Airlines have traditionally adjusted fares in response to fluctuating fuel costs. When fuel becomes more expensive, carriers try to recover those costs through higher ticket prices.
This year, the industry has also responded by limiting the number of seats available for sale.
Delta kept its capacity essentially flat during the third quarter while increasing revenue by 16%. For the final three months of the year, the airline expects capacity to grow approximately 3%, with fewer Main Cabin seats available than during the same period last year.
Other airlines have also reduced capacity, particularly on routes where profits haven’t been easy to come by.
With fewer seats available, airlines have more room to maintain higher fares.
Bastian believes the industry’s response to elevated fuel costs could have a lasting impact on pricing, even after the immediate financial pressure subsides.
Whether airlines can hold on to those gains is another question.
Competition, weakening demand, or additional capacity could eventually push fares lower. And while Delta reports that customers continue to spend (particularly higher-income households and corporations), that doesn’t necessarily reflect the financial circumstances of every traveler.
For now, though, Delta’s outlook suggests that falling fuel prices alone may not be enough to bring airfares back down.
Airlines Are Exploring Other Ways to Charge More
Another exchange during Delta’s earnings call touched on a different aspect of airline pricing.
A JPMorgan analyst raised the issue of international airlines beginning to vary fuel surcharges based on the day of the week, with higher charges on peak travel days.
Fuel surcharges are additional charges some airlines impose on tickets, including certain flights booked with miles. Unlike the underlying fare, these charges can carry over even when a passenger uses rewards to cover the ticket.
Delta Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito acknowledged the development and described it as a relatively new practice.
He said Delta hasn’t adopted the approach and stopped short of suggesting it would.
For travelers booking with points and miles, it’s something worth watching. Depending on how an airline structures its charges, flying on a Tuesday rather than a Sunday could affect how much cash a traveler has to pay when redeeming miles.
What Travelers Can Do About Higher Fares
There isn’t much an individual traveler can do to influence airline pricing, but flexibility can help keep costs down.
Flying a day earlier or later, considering nearby airports, or choosing a different airline can sometimes produce substantial savings.
Points and miles can also provide an alternative to increasingly expensive cash fares. Some loyalty programs closely follow cash ticket prices, while others use different pricing structures that can make certain flights considerably cheaper when booked with miles.
Of course, points aren’t always a bargain. Some redemptions require large numbers of miles, and certain international bookings carry substantial taxes and carrier-imposed surcharges.
It’s worth comparing the cash price against the points required, plus any out-of-pocket charges, before deciding how to book.
You can search flights with points on PointsYeah to view options across multiple airline loyalty programs.
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