US Gas Prices & Spirit Airlines Status — State-by-State Tracker

The United States is on Day 18 of the Spirit Airlines wind-down, which is the most visible operational consequence of the global jet fuel cost spike in any major economy. Spirit ceased operations at 3:00 AM ET on Saturday, May 2, 2026, after a Trump administration $500 million bailout proposal failed the previous day when bondholders rejected a 90% government stake exchange. The US Bankruptcy Court (Judge Sean Lane) approved expedited liquidation proceedings on May 5. Approximately 1.8 million May seats were cancelled, 17,000 jobs lost, and 190 aircraft are being sold off.

The proximate trigger was simple math. Spirit's 2026 restructuring plan had assumed jet fuel at $2.24 per gallon; actual fuel averaged $4.53 per gallon — adding approximately $360 million in unbudgeted Q1 cost on top of an existing second Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Spirit was the 8th-largest US carrier with a 3.9% market share. Its ultra-low-cost margin model could not absorb the pass-through; hedged carriers (Jet2 87%, Lufthansa Group 80% for 2026) survive while distressed and unhedged operators collapse first.

JetBlue announced 11 new routes from Fort Lauderdale on May 4–5, of which 6 are entirely new destinations. Routes go live July 9 — leaving an approximately 2-month peak-summer gap during which Spirit's roughly 1.7 million monthly passengers must be absorbed at higher fares. JetBlue's FLL operations will be 75% above last summer at approximately 130 daily departures. Frontier added 9 new routes and 15 daily flights across 18 former Spirit markets. United, American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue and Frontier are all capping rescue rebooks at approximately $200 per passenger under coordination by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

On retail fuel, the AAA national average sits at $4.53 per gallon — up approximately 43.6% from a year ago and approximately 53% from the pre-conflict baseline of February 28, 2026. The increase has been geographically uneven: California is at $6.15, Washington at $5.77, Hawaii at $5.64, while Oklahoma sits at $3.94 and Mississippi at $3.98. The US is structurally insulated from physical supply problems — the Gulf Coast refining cluster (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi) is a net exporter of refined products — but US retail prices track global wholesale benchmarks because US refiners can choose to export to higher-priced markets.

AAA-tracked average retail gasoline prices, mid-May 2026. State-level variation reflects state fuel taxes, regional refining geography, and (in California) the unique CARBOB gasoline blend specification.

The fundamental question for the next several months of US aviation is hedging position. Carriers that locked in fuel prices before February 28 are absorbing the cost spike at margin level; carriers that did not are facing existential pressure.

Legacy carriers (American, Delta, United) are typically 30–50% hedged for 2026. They are currently absorbing fuel surcharges at margin level without major schedule disruption. Their hubs — ATL (Delta), DFW (American), ORD (United) — are operating to schedule. Long-haul international routes have seen $300+ per-sector fuel-surcharge increases applied to new bookings, but existing booked fares are honoured. These are the carriers most likely to absorb Spirit's market share over the next 12 months.

Southwest historically operated one of the largest hedging books in commercial aviation, although its hedge cover for 2026 is reduced from peak years. It is participating in the DOT-coordinated rescue-fare cap and absorbing former Spirit passengers without route reductions. The unique point-to-point network structure is well-suited to absorbing displaced ultra-low-cost passengers.

JetBlue exited financial fuel hedging in December 2024 — it has no protection against current fuel costs. Q1 adjusted loss of $0.87 per share; FY26 guidance suspended. Despite the financial position JetBlue is taking on substantial new capacity at Fort Lauderdale to absorb Spirit's network, with 11 new FLL routes going live July 9 and FLL operations 75% above last summer.

Frontier (ULCC) has suspended FY26 guidance and disclosed $45–50 million of unbudgeted Q1 fuel cost. Has added 9 routes and 15 daily flights across 18 former Spirit markets. Allegiant is cutting Q2 available seat miles by 6.5% year-over-year and is the most likely next carrier on the watchlist if the fuel-cost environment persists.

Norse Atlantic permanently withdrew its LAX–Europe service (London Gatwick, Paris, Rome) for summer 2026 in mid-April, citing "unpredictable fuel supply and pricing environment." This is the first major transatlantic route loss of the cycle from a US airport.

The proximate cause of every energy-flow story in 2026 is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which approximately 20% of global oil and a similarly material share of refined-product trade historically transits. The strait has been effectively closed since February 28, 2026. Per the IEA's May 2026 Oil Market Report, cumulative global supply losses since February exceed one billion barrels.

The United States is structurally one of the best-insulated advanced economies. The US Gulf Coast refining cluster — concentrated in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi — has the largest concentrated refining capacity in the world and produces more refined products than the country consumes. The US is a net exporter of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. This is why there is no retail fuel-availability problem in the US even as Europe and the Asia-Pacific see physical supply tightening.

The exposure that remains is to price, set on global markets. Even though US refineries produce most of the fuel Americans consume, the wholesale price at which they sell that fuel tracks global benchmarks because US refiners can choose to export to higher-priced markets. When global jet fuel prices double, US airlines pay near-global prices even if the fuel was refined in Beaumont or Baton Rouge. The Platts Global Jet Fuel Index is up more than 70% since February 28; that increase is what triggered the Spirit collapse and is squeezing every unhedged US carrier.

The political dimension is real. WTI crude has traded above $100 per barrel through much of early to mid-May (settling $105.20 on May 18) — the first sustained move above $100 since mid-2022 — and the AAA national average has been at or above $4.50 per gallon for two consecutive weeks. President Trump has flagged that a federal gas-tax suspension is under consideration but has not been announced. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been drawn down to 384.1 million barrels by the May 13 EIA WPSR — including an 8.6 mbbl single-week draw, the largest of this cycle. DOE awarded contracts on May 11 for an additional 53.3 mbbl release. Total US contribution to the IEA collective release stands at 172 mbbl. The SPR's structural role is for genuine supply emergencies rather than price management, but the policy direction is unmistakably tactical at this point.

If you had a Spirit Airlines booking, you should already have received re-protection guidance from Spirit's bankruptcy administrator. If not, contact United, American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue or Frontier directly and reference the DOT-coordinated rescue-fare cap of approximately $200 per ticket. Save your original Spirit booking confirmation. If your original Spirit flight was on a route now served by JetBlue from Fort Lauderdale, the replacement service begins July 9.

If you are driving long distances this summer, route planning matters more than it has in any recent year. State-level price variation is approximately $2.20 per gallon between California and Oklahoma — on a 1,000-mile road trip in a 25-mpg vehicle, the difference is roughly $88 in fuel cost. GasBuddy and AAA Fuel Prices show station-level pricing and allow route comparison; price variation of 50 cents per gallon within a single metro area is common.

If you are travelling to Europe, the UK and France are the highest-risk destinations for jet-fuel-supply tightening. Goldman Sachs has identified the UK as the European country most at risk of jet fuel rationing this summer. Check your airline's hedging position before booking — Jet2 (87% hedged) and easyJet (70% hedged) have the strongest no-surcharge commitments; American carrier transatlantic routes are mostly running but with $300+ per-sector fuel-surcharge increases on new bookings.

If you are travelling to Canada or Australia, both have material aviation disruption — Air Canada has suspended 10 transborder US routes year-to-date including Toronto–JFK and Montréal–JFK, and Qantas has suspended Adelaide–Mount Gambier indefinitely with 3.6% domestic capacity cuts. Check the destination country's specific situation: Canada · Australia · United Kingdom.

If you are concerned about Caribbean travel, Cuba is in the most acute energy crisis in its modern history (22-hour daily blackouts). US-Cuba direct flights are limited by sanctions but charter routes still operate; the on-the-ground experience is materially degraded. Alternative Caribbean destinations (Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico) are not experiencing the same supply collapse.