Good news for travelers tired of seeing airfares getting increasingly more expensive: one prominent CEO in the airline industry is predicting that price hikes will soon begin to cool.
Throughout 2026, airfares have been hitting record highs as the war in Iran continues to elevate the cost of oil and jet fuel.
Airlines have passed a portion of these costs onto passengers, who have been so far willing to pay for more expensive tickets amid robust travel demand.
Now Chris Sununu, CEO Airlines for America, the largest industry lobby group in the U.S., says that he anticipates airline prices to level off.
“I don’t think you’re going to see prices go up significantly,” Sununu said in a recent interview on NewsNation. “I think they’re going to be kind of stabilized for quite a while because we’re not getting out of this Iran thing anytime soon, unfortunately. And it’s a bigger issue for places like Asia and Europe.”
Airfares were more than 25% more expensive in July 2026 than they were for the same month in 2025, according to data from the Consumer Price Index. At the same time, total air travel demand maintained a slight uptick of 0.2% worldwide.
Sununu’s analysis contradicts other CEOs in the industry, who have been predicting that airfares will continue to see some sort of price increases for the foreseeable future.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in August that he expects airfares to continue to see “gradual increases” well into 2027.
Similarly, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in July that he predicts airfares will remain elevated well after the price of oil comes down due to a multitude of factors, including strong demand from fliers.
“Demand is strong. People are traveling,” Sununu said. “And that puts money in the economy in a whole lot of different ways.”
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