‘Double Whammy’: Holiday Travelers Face Higher Fares And Fewer Flights As Jet Fuel Costs Soar

United Airlines and American Airlines are cutting some flights from their December schedules as jet fuel costs climb, executives at both carriers told investors.

Travelers whose flights are cut are often “quietly funneled toward travel credits or vouchers rather than the cash refunds they are entitled to by law,” John Breyault, vice president of public policy at the National Consumers League (NCL), told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Consumers are catching a double whammy heading into the holiday season,” Breyault added, pointing to higher base fares as carriers try to offset fuel costs.

Republican Texas Rep. Troy Nehls, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, does not have a hearing scheduled on the cuts, a spokesperson for the congressman told the DCNF.

If schedule reductions “become widespread or materially affect connectivity, competition, or consumers,” the office would expect the subcommittee to “seek additional information from airlines and other stakeholders to determine whether further congressional oversight is warranted,” the spokesperson added.

“There’s some marginal routes that don’t make sense in a higher fuel environment, so we cut them,” United Chief Financial Officer Michael Leskinen said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference on Sept. 16.

“As you look into the fourth quarter, there’ll be some flights in December that we won’t fly that we thought we were going to fly,” Leskinen said.

United will make further adjustments in the first quarter and into 2027 if fuel remains high, he added.

Rising fuel prices added about $1 billion to American’s projected fourth-quarter costs, Chief Financial Officer Devon May said at the same conference.