The Fort Worth-based carrier burned through $341 million more in jet fuel during the first quarter of 2026<\/strong> than it did in the same stretch a year ago. <\/p>\n That’s a painful hit even as the airline managed to post record revenue weeks<\/strong> and grow total revenue by 10.8% year-over-year (YoY) in the March quarter.<\/p>\n And here’s the thing: it could get worse before it gets better.<\/p>\n Jet fuel doesn’t spike in a vacuum. The conflict in the Middle East<\/strong> has been a major driver of the recent price surge, pushing fuel prices to a peak of $4.69 per gallon<\/strong>. <\/p>\n That’s more than double what it was in early February, according to the Argus US Jet Fuel Index.<\/p>\n Down almost 14% in 2026, American Airlines (AAL) stock isn\u2019t alone in absorbing this blow.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a Sherwood report:<\/p>\n The problem is that Q1 only included one month of the conflict’s full impact. Airlines are now bracing for a much harder Q2<\/strong>, with carriers broadly expecting to pay more than$4.26 per gallon<\/strong> \u2014 a jump of over 50% from the first quarter average.<\/p>\n For AAL, Chief Financial Officer Devon May said the company is planning for fuel at approximately $4 per gallon<\/strong> in Q2 based on the forward curve as of April 20.<\/p>\n Airlines have a few tools to offset a fuel spike<\/strong>: raise fares, cut flights, <\/strong>or hike ancillary fees<\/strong>. American Airlines is leaning on all three.<\/p>\n American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the company expects to recapture 40% to 50% of the higher fuel costs in Q2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That figure is expected to climb to 75%-85% in Q3, and potentially into the 90s by Q4<\/strong>, assuming fuel prices hold and capacity continues to decline.\u00a0<\/p>\n American has already trimmed capacity by suspending Tel Aviv and Doha services<\/strong>, pulling back in Chicago, and reducing other marginal flying<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: United Airlines quietly cuts free perk<\/strong><\/p>\n Still, Chief Commercial Officer Nat Pieper noted that deeper near-term cuts don’t make financial sense given strong demand heading into peak summer travel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The hikes that airlines are pushing through are real, and passengers are already feeling them. According to Deutsche Bank’s analysis, the industry may need to raise average fares by about 17%<\/strong> to cover fuel costs at current prices fully.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bloomberg/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Beyond base fares, the pressure on ancillary fees is mounting. Three of the six largest U.S. carriers<\/strong> have already raised checked bag fees in recent weeks, and industry observers say that may just be the start.\u00a0<\/p>\n With profit margins thin and fuel costs surging, airlines are looking at every possible revenue stream<\/strong>, from seat assignments to boarding group pricing, to plug the gap.<\/p>\n Despite ongoing headwinds, American Airlines isn’t throwing in the towel on the year.<\/p>\n Even with fuel expense tracking more than $4 billion higher<\/strong> YoY, Isom said the airline still expects to turn a profit in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n The midpoint of the company’s full-year earnings guidance sits at $0.35 per diluted share<\/strong>. <\/p>\n For Q2, American Airlines is guiding for a range spanning a $0.20 loss to a $0.20 gain.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are also updating our full year outlook to reflect our current revenue expectations and the forward fuel curve. The midpoint of the full year earnings guidance is $0.35 per share, approximately flat to 2025 despite jet fuel prices increasing fuel expense by over $4 billion year-over-year,” May stated.<\/p>\n The company ended Q1 with nearly $11 billion in available liquidity<\/strong>. Total debt fell<\/strong> to $34.7 billion, the first time it’s been below $35 billion since mid-2015. <\/p>\n That financial cushion matters when you’re navigating a fuel shock this size.<\/p>\n Revenue momentum <\/strong>is also real.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fuel crisis is a serious headwind. But American Airlines is betting its commercial momentum, and some strategic capacity discipline can carry it through.<\/p>\n Related: Low-cost airline CEO warns of looming airline bankruptcies<\/strong><\/p>\n #American #Airlines #sees #million #hike #jet #fuel #costs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fuel costs are squeezing U.S. airlines from every angle right now. And for American Airlines, the jet fuel bill got a lot bigger in Q1. The Fort Worth-based carrier burned… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[549,890,449,546,1454,645,573,1006],"class_list":["post-2372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular","tag-airlines","tag-american","tag-costs","tag-fuel","tag-hike","tag-jet","tag-million","tag-sees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gw.adampg777.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}AAL stock is down 14% in 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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How American Airlines plans to fight back\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thestreet.com\/.image\/NDA6MDAwMDAwMDAyOTg3MTc0\/american-airlines-ceo-robert-isom-interview.jpg?io=1&profile=rss\")
AAL stock expects to be profitable in 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n
More Airlines:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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