Airlines spent billions more on fuel this year and decided the best way to handle this was to act like nobody saw it coming. Jet fuel went up. Ticket prices went up. The airline CEOs called a press conference to explain that when things cost more, they charge more. Groundbreaking stuff.
The problem is not that fuel got expensive. Fuel gets expensive every few years like clockwork. The problem is airlines run their entire business model like a guy who keeps getting surprised his car needs gas.
They hedged fuel costs badly. They cancelled hedges when oil dipped. They bought back stock instead of preparing for the next spike. Now they are passing the bill to you, the person who just wants to visit their dying aunt in Tampa without taking out a second mortgage.
Retail traders saw this headline and immediately started buying airline stocks because they read "billions of dollars" and assumed that meant the airlines were making money instead of lighting it on fire at 30,000 feet. Someone on Reddit probably posted that this was bullish for Spirit Airlines three hours before it filed for bankruptcy.
The best part is the promise that prices will stay high. Not might stay high. Will stay high. Airlines already decided. They tasted the sweet profit margins of charging you $400 to sit in a middle seat next to a man eating tuna salad and they are not going back.
Fuel costs will drop eventually. Prices will not. Airlines will find another excuse. Labor costs. Airport fees. The CEO needs a third vacation home. Whatever works.
You will pay it anyway because the alternative is driving to your destination like some kind of peasant who thinks $6 a gallon for gas is expensive.
Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash
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