As jet fuel prices rise, even the drink cart’s weight matters

As jet fuel prices soar to record levels, airlines are doing more than just raising fares and passing along the costs to travelers.

To conserve fuel, some are squeezing more passengers onto fewer planes. Others are getting creative and using less paint and lighter beverage carts. And some are scheduling more direct routes and adjusting their flying to take advantage of tail winds.


Airlines have little choice. Prices for jet fuel, which now accounts for up to a third of a carrier’s operating costs, surged 58 percent last year, according to Platts, a division of McGraw-Hill Co. that tracks energy prices. For some airlines, the cost has tripled in the last few years, as crude oil prices approach $100 per barrel.

“Any time you have increases in crude oil prices, the airlines are going to take a hit,” said Brian Nelson, an airline industry analyst with Morningstar in Chicago. Fuel prices are “instrumental to their cost structure.”

High fuel prices have forced some small airlines to close down. MAXjet Airways Inc., which offered business-class service from several US cities to London, shut down operations and sought bankruptcy protection Dec. 24, citing soaring fuel costs and the credit crunch.

Meanwhile, the owner of Montana-based Big Sky Airlines, MAIR Holdings Inc., has said it plans to stop flying and sell its planes this year, partly because of fuel costs. Big Sky currently flies between Logan International Airport in Boston and more than a half-dozen smaller cities as part of a partnership with Delta Air Lines.

Boston Globe