United Airlines sees $6 billion fuel cost hit as jet prices soar

United Airlines expects nearly $6 billion more in fuel expense this year than it planned at the start of 2026, as jet fuel prices keep climbing and airlines pass part of the shock into fares and capacity cuts. The jump in fuel prices since the beginning of July alone added $575 million to its expected third-quarter costs, and it based guidance on the latest Gulf Coast fuel curve rather than older assumptions.

Second-quarter fuel expense rose $2.3 billion, or 84%, from a year earlier, and it had already recovered about half of that increase in the quarter. It expects to recover 80% to 90% of the increase in the third quarter and all of it by the fourth quarter. United raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $9 to $11 a share from an April forecast of $7 to $11, citing strong travel demand, higher fares and capacity cuts.

United quickly adjusted schedules when oil prices spiked in March while continuing to invest in customer upgrades, network expansion, Starlink in-flight internet and products such as Relax Row. Second-quarter adjusted earnings were $1.99 a share on revenue of $17.7 billion, with total operating revenue up 16% and revenue per available seat mile up 12%.

In June, the International Air Transport Association put surging fuel costs at $100 billion in airlines' collective fuel bills in 2026, helped by a 70% year-over-year increase in average jet fuel prices, and cut its global airline net profit forecast to $23 billion from $45 billion in 2025. U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics data show airlines spent $6.6 billion on jet fuel in May, after $6.47 billion in April and $5.06 billion in March, while fuel consumption dipped to 1.627 billion gallons from a year earlier. The average price paid, $4.09 a gallon in May, was nearly double the $2.21 paid in May 2025.