Travelers who were hoping for ever-increasing airfares to soon become cheaper again might have a rude awakening next year.
According to one airline CEO, airfares will likely continue to become more expensive well into 2027.
"I think you're going to still see gradual increases in fares,” said United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, according to a Reuters report. “Not as big a jump as happened this year."
Kirby expects airfares to keep climbing steadily as travel demand remains strong, even amid this year’s higher prices.
United has not seen any decrease in demand even as average airfares have increased by as much as 25% year over year in July, according to data from the US Department of Labor, largely due to elevated fuel costs.
"There really hasn't even been a blip in demand," Kirby said, according to Reuters. "Demand is very, very strong across the board."
Thanks to the strong demand, Kirby predicted that United will fully recover its added fuel costs by the end of 2026.
Although airfares have been significantly higher this year compared to 2025, Kirby said that average prices are still about 13% below pre-pandemic airfares when controlling for inflation.
"We're going to return to sort of a normalized fare level where airlines can be profitable enough to reinvest," Kirby said.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
