Some major US airlines may 'not survive' unless oil prices come down soon, experts warn

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Saturday 28 March 2026 18:17 EDT


Some airlines could suffer major losses amid rising oil prices, according to industry leaders and experts.

The ongoing war with Iran has driven up oil prices worldwide, which means airlines are paying more than expected for fuel. As prices continue to rise, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby warned some airlines might “not survive,” according to The Los Angeles Times.

“If these other guys make the same mistakes they made six years ago (during the Covid-19 pandemic), and if the forecast about $175 per barrel is right, you’ll see airlines not survive,” he reportedly said. This comes after Kirby warned that jet fuel prices “have more than doubled in the last three weeks.”

“If prices stayed at this level, it would mean an extra $11B in annual expense just for jet fuel. For perspective, in United’s best year ever, we made less than $5B,” he wrote in a memo to United Airlines employees last week.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/us/travel/us-airlines-fuel-prices-iran-b2947727.html

[pimpbot]

1. perfect time for a trump bribe

Or one to rename themselves Trump Airlines to get a fat juicy govt bailout.

[Quanto Magnus]

18. Get ready for

the 'American Airlines Peace Prize'!!

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Will TSF give subsidies to airlines like oil and farmers?

[C_U_L8R]

3. Trump cronies salivating for some steals... I mean deals.

You can hear the vulture capitalists drooling.

[EuterpeThelo]

4. I am very worried about JetBlue

who I am scheduled to fly in June for my annual visit to see my late husband's family. Besides that they're my favorite domestic carrier in general, they're also the only airline left that has direct service from Burbank to New York (and even that route only just returned after being suspended for a while). I LOATHE LAX and BUR is 20 minutes from my home.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Road Trip!! 🚍😎

[evemac]

21. I feel the same way about Frontier

People diss them, but their entire fleet is Airbus which I like the way those planes fly far better than Boeings, and unlike United which is almost always late and/or delayed, they are on time. They have direct routes from Denver to Austin and have great prices.

[COL Mustard]

5. I assume that

Trump Airlines will resurrect itself, and have zillions of dollars in profit right from the start?

Oh, and all Government employees will be required to fly in on travel, and...STRONGLY encouraged to fly it for personal trips.

Sounds about right to me.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. I can't tell you how many HQ people would fly here to Philly from D.C. Metro

back in the day...

We field peons had to use Amtrak (pre-Acela era) and then hop on the Metro (with suitcases).

[COL Mustard]

8. Sometimes it's no fun...

And I've seen SO many people on Metro with suitcases, clearly just arriving. Hard for them to maneuver, hard for us...just a pain all around.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. A few times when I went down there with my boss

we took Amtrak to New Carrollton, MD, them hopped the Orange Line from there to Metro Center, then switched to the Red Line to go where we needed to go close to our hotel - all to avoid Union Station!

[COL Mustard]

19. That's a hassle, but...

I can’t say I blame you.

In some ways the Metro has gotten way better than it used to be, but in other ways it still sucks.

My personal favorite improvement is that the Silver Line goes to Dulles. I’ve taken that a few times, and it’s much better than taking a taxi (or getting an Uber or a Lyft.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Back in the mid-80s

our SEPTA system opened a regional rail line that went from downtown to the airport. So since I had been using the regional rail to commute to work for a few years, I actually used that airport line to get to the airport (would switch to that line once I got downtown using my usual train and it was an easy transfer). I also used my line to get to Amtrak's 30th St. Station. Much cheaper than a cab.

Now SEPTA has decided to rename our train/subway/trolley/Elevated lines to be referred to as "The Metro" (and renumbered those and the buses).

Thank goodness I'm retired.

[TBF]

10. Absolutely -

I did both in the private sector (large law firms in DC) - I used the Delta shuttle a lot when I had a case I had in NYC one summer and clients were paying; and I did amtrak from DC to Philly for litigation training. I traveled constantly in the 90s.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. I had a lot of plane travel during the '80s and '90s

and then more POV travel in the 2000s (it was often hard to get a GOV for more than a day or two and the training courses were longer so did the POV thing).

[IronLionZion]

6. It's deplorable that anyone still believes MAGA is good for our economy

[COL Mustard]

9. Hey, the Dow is at 45,000!!!

Oh, wait...it was at (ahem) 50,000 a month ago. Never mind, fake news!

[littlemissmartypants]

14. Remember trains?

[EX500rider]

16. Depends how far you are going

Amtrak tickets from Miami to Los Angeles generally cost between $340 and $450 for a coach seat, with travel times typically exceeding 90 hours (roughly 4 days)

One-way flights from Miami (MIA) to Los Angeles (LAX) generally average between $150 and $300.
A direct flight from Miami (MIA) to Los Angeles (LAX) typically takes between 5 hours 13 minutes and 5 hours 45 minutes

[BumRushDaShow]

17. I had a coworker who absolutely refused to fly

and would work with our admin/travel people to book Amtrak - e.g. From Philly to Chicago or Cincinnati.

[COL Mustard]

20. John Madden???

He was terribly afraid of flying, so he took an RV everywhere he went.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. ...

I know people like that! And they are dead serious too.

[travelingthrulife]

15. And they all pumped money into the very machine that is killing them!