Based on the fuel consumption of April 2023, the USA has returned to its pre-pandemic levels of using airline fuel. This relies on the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) report of the US-based airlines’ consumption numbers through the month of April. The BTS also reports on the fee of fuel, which was listed at $2.66 per gallon in April 2023. This was a rise from the $1.98 price per gallon that existed in April 2019.
Yr-over-year changes in fuel consumption
The BTS report on fuel consumption allows for trends to be easily seen regarding the aviation industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with the report, US scheduled service airlines used over 1.484 billion gallons of fuel. This was 3.9% less fuel in comparison to March 2023, wherein airlines scheduled the utilization of 1.545 billion gallons of fuel.
Nevertheless, the scheduled fuel consumption in April 2023 was only 0.1% lower than in April 2019, which is an indicator that the aviation industry has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels of travel.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
The report includes actual numbers of fuel consumption as well. April 2023 recorded 997.2 million gallons of fuel, whereas April 2019 recorded the usage of 992.3 million gallons of fuel. Compared to other years through the pandemic, April 2020 only recorded 313 million gallons of fuel, and April 2021 recorded 739.8 million gallons of fuel. April 2020 had 1.35 billion gallons of fuel scheduled for use and recorded lower than 25% of that.
Overall, domestic fuel consumption decreased 6.4% from March 2023 in comparison with April 2023. Nevertheless, April 2023 was still a rise of 0.5% in comparison with April 2019. This moreover reflects a rise in airline passenger travel.
The year-to-date fuel consumption in 2023 is currently listed at 3.941 billion gallons. For the primary 4 months of 2022, there was a complete of three.582 billion gallons, which shows a continued recovery. The primary 4 months of 2023 have surpassed the primary 4 months of 2019, prior to the pandemic. In 2019, the primary 4 months recorded 3.846 billion gallons of fuel consumed.
Fuel cost changes not in keeping with the fuel consumption changes
Although fuel consumption has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the fee of fuel per gallon has increased well past what the fee was prior to the pandemic. The value of fuel per gallon in April 2023 was listed as $2.66. That is up 29.3% in comparison with before the pandemic. In April 2019, the value for fuel was listed as $1.98 per gallon.
Nevertheless, this was a month-over-month drop. In March 2023, the value for fuel was recorded at $2.91 per gallon. This was an 8.8% decrease or a drop of 26 cents per gallon.
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Easy Flying
The BTS report also shows a year-over-year decrease in the fee of fuel in comparison with when the pandemic was still energetic. In April 2020, the fuel price dropped to $1.45 per gallon. It then increased to $1.75 per gallon in April 2021. The fee of fuel then skyrocketed in April 2022, where it reached $3.58 per gallon.
The fee of fuel average during 2022 was recorded as $3.36 per gallon. Nevertheless, the 2023 year-to-date price is listed as $3.03 per gallon, which shows a slight decrease from the costly yr prior.