U.S. airlines spent more than $6 billion on jet fuel in April, up 78% from a year earlier despite using slightly less fuel, government data released Monday showed. Meanwhile, the airline industry’s top global trade group warned that soaring energy costs could nearly halve profits in 2026.
Since conflict erupted in the Middle East earlier this year after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, much of the shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical oil transit route bordering Iran — has remained effectively halted, pushing up the price of oil and jet fuel.
In an effort to contain costs, airlines around the world have raised airfares and fees, cut other perks and canceled flights or trimmed schedules.
U.S. carriers spent nearly $6.5 billion on fuel in April, compared with about $3.6 billion a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Fuel consumption in April totaled 1.573 billion gallons, down slightly from 1.575 billion gallons a year earlier.
The latest figures came as the International Air Transport Association released a report on Sunday saying it now expects airlines worldwide to earn a combined $23 billion in net profit in 2026, far below its previous forecast of $41 billion and down from $45 billion in 2025.
“Airlines are bearing the brunt of the fuel price shock,” said Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, which represents most of the world's carriers. “While airfares are rising, airlines are still absorbing part of the hike in their bottom lines.”
The group said jet fuel prices are expected to average $152 a barrel in 2026, nearly 70% higher than in 2025, pushing the global airline fuel bill to about $350 billion from $252 billion a year earlier. IATA said that fuel is forecast to account for more than 31% of airline operating expenses in 2026, up from about 25% last year.
In the U.S., the cost of a gallon of jet fuel in April was $4.11, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said. Last April, it cost $2.31.
In a sign of the conflict’s ongoing repercussions for travel, American Airlines said last week it was suspending some of its routes this summer. In April, Lufthansa Group said it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October and Air Canada announced it was suspending its service to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport from June until late October.
Other airlines, ranging from U.S. carriers like United and Delta to Air France-KLM, Philippine Airlines and Cathay Pacific in Europe and Asia, have either cut flights, readjusted their schedules or halted plans to add more seats and routes this year.
FILE - A worker finishes up fueling a jet at DFW International Airport in Grapevine, Texas, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
Hilary Knight is heading to the PWHL’s expansion team in Detroit as part of a sign-and-trade deal involving one of women's hockey’s most recognized stars, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday.
The person said Knight will first sign a foundational contract with Las Vegas as part of Phase 2 of the league’s expansion signing process. Las Vegas in turn has reached an agreement to trade Knight to Detroit for the team’s first-round pick in the draft next week, the person added.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the trade. The deal won’t become official until the PWHL’s trade freeze lifts on June 16, a day before the draft.
The 36-year-old Knight is a five-time U.S. Olympian and one of the most decorated players in her sport. She is coming off captaining Team USA to a gold-medal victory at the Milan Cortina Games in February, in which Knight deflected in the championship game-tying goal late in the third period of a 2-1 overtime win against Canada.
Though Knight said the Olympics in Milan would be her last, she planned on continuing her pro career.
Knight is on the move for a second straight PWHL offseason. After spending her first two PWHL seasons in Boston, she left the Fleet to sign with the expansion Seattle Torrent to be closer to her offseason home in Idaho.
Now, it’ll be the Chicago-area town where she grew up that she’s closer to.
As much as Knight and the Torrent would have preferred she remain in Seattle, the team under the expansion rules was restricted to protecting three players. The Torrent chose to protect forward Alex Carpenter, defender Anna Wilgren and goalie Hannah Murphy.
Knight at least gets the benefit of signing a foundational offer, which guarantees her making at least $100,000 per season. She made $106,090 last year.
Each of the PWHL’s four expansion teams were allowed one foundational contract offer. Las Vegas still had its foundational slot open, while Detroit used its offer to sign Toronto forward Daryl Watts last week.
Las Vegas, meanwhile, lands an additional first-round pick in a draft class stocked with young talent and led by five U.S. national team members, including defender Caroline Harvey and defender/forward Laila Edwards. The PWHL has yet to set the draft order, with the exception of Vancouver picking first.
Knight counts toward one of the five players Las Vegas must add in this expansion phase, which closes on Monday. The team has two more slots open after signing Minnesota defenders Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper on Saturday.
In Detroit, Knight joins a team that already features three U.S. gold medal-winning teammates in forwards Britta Curl-Salemme, Hannah Bilka and defender Cayla Barnes, who were signed in the expansion process. She also is reunited with newly hired Detroit coach Josh Sciba, who was an assistant on the U.S. Olympic team.
And Knight joins a team headed by one of women's hockey's trailblazers in GM Manon Rheaume. The 54-year-old Rheaume was a goaltender, and the first woman to appear in an exhibition game of any of North America’s four major sports.
Earlier in the day, Detroit filled its fifth expansion spot by signing Toronto forward Jesse Compher to a three-year contract. Compher won a silver medal representing the U.S. at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Knight finished last season with five goals and 14 points in 22 games, while missing the final two months of the season with a lower-body injury. A year earlier, she finished tied for the league lead with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists). Overall, she ranks 12th in the PWHL with 54 career points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 76 games.
The trade caps an eventful stretch for Knight. A day before winning gold, she became engaged to American speedskater Brittany Bowe. Her goal against Canada was her 15th and 33rd point of her Olympic career, setting U.S. records for both categories.
In 2024, Knight was the International Ice Hockey Federation's female player of the year. She has won two Olympic gold and three silver medals since making her Team USA debut at the 2007 world championships. She has won 10 gold medals at worlds and holds the career tournament records for goals (67), assists (53) and points (120).
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
FILE - Seattle Torrent's Hilary Knight (21) waits for a face off against the Vancouver Goldeneyes during the second period of a PWHL hockey game in Vancouver, on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP,File)
