U.S. airlines confront $6 billion fuel surge and DST schedule overhaul

United Airlines said it expects to spend an additional $6 billion on jet fuel this year, the airline’s second‑largest expense after labor. The carrier has already incurred $2.3 billion extra fuel costs in the second quarter, an 84% increase from a year earlier, as jet‑fuel prices approached $5 per gallon in April. Higher airfares have helped offset the rise, and Delta Air Lines reported a similar fuel cost jump, spending $4.4 billion in the quarter, up 77% year‑over‑year. Delta CEO Ed Bastian noted, “Airfares are a function of supply and demand. The demand set is really strong and the supply is in balance.”

Separately, airlines warned that making daylight‑saving time permanent could require up to two years to adjust scheduling systems and other operations. The trade group Airlines for America said permanent DST would be “very disruptive” to the sector, affecting crew and aircraft positioning, domestic and international connectivity, reservation systems, payroll and IT fixes. Analyst Henry Harteveldt added that “they would all have to make changes to their software programs if we abandon the practice of daylight saving time.”