American, United and Southwest Cut Marginal Routes as Jet Fuel Hits $4.71 a Gallon

CommodityIndustryMacro Impact 4
โดย Fortune·US·Read original
Summary · why it matters

American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines are cutting their least-profitable routes as jet fuel prices climb to $4.71 per gallon, more than double the cost a year ago and near a 20-year high. Speaking at Morgan Stanley's annual Laguna Conference on Sept. 16, American CFO Devon May said the fuel spike has added $1 billion to the carrier's projected fourth-quarter expenses, prompting it to cut some December flights and plan for less growth next year. Southwest CFO Tom Doxey said the airline halved its planned 2-3% flight capacity growth "because fuel has been higher," while United CFO Mike Leskinen said United will fly fewer flights in December and could cut further next year, noting that 35% of its fourth-quarter tickets were already booked but that higher fuel costs get passed through to consumers with a lag. United and American declined to share the number of flights they cut, and a Southwest spokesperson told Fortune its schedule adjustments were "very minimal" and do not affect large-scale exits of routes or airports. United and American spent about $8.2 billion and $7.8 billion respectively on fuel in the first six months of this year, both up almost 49% from a year earlier, while Southwest spent nearly $3.6 billion, up about 39%; fares were 23.4% higher in August than a year earlier, compared to a 3.4% increase in overall consumer prices. The fuel shock has also hit Europe, where Ryanair cut its full-year passenger forecast this month from 216 million to 214 million.

Impact on stocks 4

Industrials▼ · 4 stocks
American Airlines Group
AAL
▼ NegativeSupplyrelevance

Jet fuel spike added $1B to Q4 expenses, prompting American to cut December flights and plan less growth next year.

Southwest Airlines Company
LUV
▼ NegativeSupplyrelevance

Southwest halved its planned 2-3% flight capacity growth because higher fuel costs made marginal routes unprofitable.

United Airlines Holdings Inc
UAL
▼ NegativeSupplyrelevance

United will fly fewer December flights and may cut further next year as jet fuel costs surge, with pass-through to fares lagging.

Ryanair Holdings plc
RY4C
▼ NegativeSupplyrelevance

Ryanair cut its full-year passenger forecast from 216 million to 214 million as the fuel shock hit European carriers.

Theme Impact 1

Related news

2

Amazon to Replace Boeing 767 Fleet With 30 Airbus A330 Freighters by 2027

Amazon.com plans to transition its air cargo fleet from Boeing 767 aircraft to Airbus A330 freighters, with Air Transport Services Group set to acquire and convert 30 Airbus A330 jets to support Amazon's air network. ATSG expects to begin operating the Airbus A330 cargo aircraft for Amazon in 2027 as part of the refreshed fleet. The switch gives Amazon access to larger, more modern cargo aircraft that can carry more volume per flight than the 767s they replace, potentially reshaping how the retailer positions inventory for Prime and marketplace orders, especially on longer domestic and transcontinental routes where aircraft range and payload matter most. The move marks a key shift in Amazon's air logistics strategy and lines up with the company's broader thesis of heavy capital spending on logistics and data centers as a trade off for efficiency and future return potential. The clearest proof point will arrive as ATSG starts flying the A330s in 2027, when Amazon discloses how much of its parcel volume flows through the new jets versus legacy aircraft and third party carriers, along with any commentary on unit costs per package or delivery speed.
AMZN ▲AIR.PA ▲BA ▼
Aerospace & Aviation
Simply Wall St·3hRead more →
▲impact 4

Lockheed Martin Set for First Saudi F-35 Sale, Germany F-35A Rollout

Lockheed Martin is set to benefit from a US government plan to sell up to 48 F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, following a notification to Congress in 2026, a package that would mark the first sale of F-35 aircraft to the kingdom. The company also marked the rollout of Germany's first F-35A in 2026, a key step in Berlin's transition to the aircraft. The Saudi notification for up to 48 F-35s would, if approved and executed, add a new Gulf customer to a platform already adopted by 20 nations and operating from 42 bases worldwide, extending an existing global footprint rather than creating a new product line. The next concrete waypoint is formal progression of the Saudi sale through Congress after the 2026 notification, which would turn a proposed package into a contracted backlog line, while for Germany investors can track the first eight F-35 deliveries to Ebbing Air National Guard Base for pilot training beginning this fall. Lockheed Martin, a US aerospace and defense group with a market cap of about $124.2b, designs and builds combat aircraft like the F-35 along with a wide range of military technology systems for governments in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and other regions.
LMT ▲
Defense & Geopolitical Fragmentation ▲Aerospace & Aviation ▲
Simply Wall St·5hRead more →
▲3

S&P 500 Q3 Earnings Expected to Rise 24%, Eighth Straight Double-Digit Quarter

S&P 500 earnings are expected to increase by +24% from the same period last year in the third quarter, the 8th straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth for the index, according to Zacks Investment Research. Earnings are expected to be above the year-earlier level for 14 of the 16 Zacks sectors, with 5 sectors expected to enjoy double-digit growth: Aerospace up +159.3%, Energy up +111.9%, Tech up +41.9%, Basic Materials up +31.2%, and Transportation up +15.1%. The Conglomerates sector is the only one expected to have lower earnings in Q3 relative to the same period last year, down 35.4%, while Consumer Staples earnings are expected to be flat. Excluding the Energy sector, Q3 earnings growth for the S&P 500 drops to +20% from +24%, and excluding the Tech sector, growth for the rest of the index drops to +14.4%. Nvidia's Q3 earnings are expected to increase +90% year-over-year on +91.2% higher revenues, while Micron's year-over-year earnings and revenue growth rates are expected to be +938% and +348.6%, respectively, and Tech sector earnings growth gets cut by slightly more than half once contributions from Nvidia and Micron are excluded. The Q3 earnings season will get the spotlight when the big banks report on October 13th, but the reporting cycle actually got underway with the September 10th quarterly releases from Oracle and Adobe, followed by homebuilder Lennar as the third S&P 500 member to report such Q3 results, with an additional six index members on deck this week including Costco, AutoZone and Darden. Total Q3 earnings for the three S&P 500 members that have reported results already are up +22.6% from the same period last year on +14.9% higher revenues, with 33.3% beating EPS estimates and 66.7% besting revenue estimates.
ADBEAZOCOSTDRILENMU+2
Artificial Intelligence ▲Semiconductors ▲Aerospace & Aviation ▲
Zacks Investment Research·8hRead more →
© 2026 MarketDXNews