United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby speaks at WSJ’s “Future of Everything 2025” held at the Glass House in New York City on May 29, 2025.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Boston — united airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby said higher fuel prices since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday would have a “material” impact on the company’s results this quarter, but added that demand was recovering.
Jet fuel, the biggest expense for airlines after labor costs, has risen 58% since last Friday to $3.95 a gallon on Thursday, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index.
“If this continues, we’re going to feel it in the second quarter,” Kirby said Thursday afternoon after an event at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to discuss the future of air travel.
United Airlines, like most major U.S. carriers, does not engage in fuel hedging, where airlines and other companies use futures contracts and other instruments to lock in prices. a boeing According to the manufacturer’s guide, the 737-800 can carry 6,875 gallons of fuel.
“No one hedges anymore, and even if they did, it’s really hard to hedge against the spread of crack,” Kirby said. A crack spread is the difference in the price of a product such as crude oil and gasoline.
Asked when high fuel prices would start to impact airfares, Kirby said: “It’s probably going to start happening soon.”
He added that overall travel demand was resilient, with booking revenue up 20% year-on-year. Demand “hasn’t gone back one step,” he said.
Mr. Kirby spoke less than two weeks after the airline attended the high-profile JPMorgan industry conference, where airline executives frequently update their financial outlooks.
His comments are an early sign of how the world’s airlines are being affected by the war, which has canceled more than 25,000 flights, stranded more than a million people and forced customers to find alternatives to flight disruptions in the Middle East.
Since Saturday’s attack and other strikes, a new segment is emerging for United Airlines as so many customers have been caught in airspace closures and widespread flight cancellations in the Middle East throughout this week.
According to the Airports Council International, Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates is the world’s busiest international airport, with Hamad International Airport serving Doha, Qatar, another major hub.
These airports are gateways for millions of passengers traveling to and from destinations across Australia, India, Europe and North America. But customers are being forced to avoid the Middle East due to airspace closures.
“Every day this week we’ve had more than 1,000 bookings from Australia and New Zealand to Europe, compared to less than one booking per day last year,” Mr Kirby said, adding that Europe was now the most booked region in the world.
Kirby said United Airlines is also in talks with the Trump administration about chartering flights to get people out of the Middle East, but plans have not yet been finalized.
