U.S. Thanksgiving airfares rise 31% as jet fuel pressures persist
Key Facts
The average U.S. domestic round-trip airfare for Thanksgiving rose to $402, according to Hopper's holiday travel report published on September 25, 2026. The increase from a year earlier was 31%, with jet fuel costs remaining elevated, which the company cited as contributing to higher fares. That annual increase amounts to $95 per ticket, according to Hopper's figures for Thanksgiving flights within the United States. The average domestic round-trip airfare for Christmas was $452 in the same report. The company said fares for both holidays had reached their "highest levels in 10 years."
The average Christmas airfare rose 23% from a year earlier, an increase of $85 for a domestic round trip, according to Hopper. Increases also extended to travel from the U.S. market to Europe over Christmas, with fares rising 15% year on year. On booking timing, the company observed that travelers were starting to book holiday flights weeks earlier than usual. Hopper linked some of the pressure on airfares to persistently high jet fuel costs caused by the conflict in Iran. In its coverage of major U.S. airlines, the Associated Press described an increase in fuel bills that passenger revenue initially failed to fully offset.
The Associated Press said rising passenger revenue at those airlines initially covered only part of the sharp increase in fuel costs. It explained that airlines typically determine which flights they will operate months before departure. They also set capacity in advance, as part of operational decisions made months before passengers travel, according to the agency. This arrangement slows the transmission of changes in fuel costs to the fares travelers pay. As the agency described it, airlines consequently faced a delay in recouping the increase in their fuel bills through passenger revenue.
In a separate development concerning Indonesian equities, MSCI launched a formal consultation on October 15 on a proposal to reclassify the market. In its consultation statement, MSCI identified investability issues related to share ownership structures and trading behavior. It said concerns included "persistent opacity in shareholder structures and suspected coordinated trading behavior." In response to these issues, Indonesian authorities announced reforms that include enhanced disclosure of shareholders with holdings exceeding 1%, according to MSCI's statement. The announced reforms also include a roadmap toward a minimum free float of 15%.
Alongside the consultation, MSCI maintained existing restrictions on changes involving Indonesian securities in its indexes until further notice. This temporary treatment includes freezing increases in the foreign inclusion factors used to calculate stocks' representation in the indexes, according to MSCI's announcement. It also includes freezing increases in the number of shares MSCI uses for index calculation purposes. MSCI will not add new Indonesian securities to its Investable Market Indexes while the temporary treatment remains in effect. The restrictions also prevent Indonesian stocks from moving to higher size segments, including moves from the small-cap category to the Standard Indexes.
On Indonesian monetary policy, the central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.75% at its September meeting, according to Reuters. Bank Indonesia indicated a preference for supporting the rupiah through market-based measures, the agency reported. The decision to hold rates relates to the previous September meeting, while MSCI's consultation concerns the equity market's classification and investability. MSCI will continue applying the temporary restrictions on changes involving Indonesian securities in its indexes until further notice, according to its stated position when it launched the consultation. MSCI set the end of June 2027 as the deadline for announcing its final decision on reclassifying Indonesia.