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

The United States is on Day 107 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, and the asset-sale process is court-approved: Judge Lane approved JetBlue's $58.5M purchase of the 22 LaGuardia slot pairs at the Jul 22 hearing -- though JetBlue itself says it won't actually operate new flights on these LaGuardia slots until 2027. Approximately 1.8 million May seats were cancelled, 17,000 jobs lost.

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 at the early-May peak (per Spirit's own attorney before the Bankruptcy Court) — 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 ~$4.01/gal (Aug 10), holding remarkably steady even though the crude market underneath it has been volatile: Brent rose almost 6% this week as Iran and Oman appeared to edge closer to a deal on Hormuz routes, even as fresh vessel attacks continued (two ADNOC vessels struck Thursday, another Friday, a bulk carrier hit Saturday) and Treasury Sec. Bessent said the US would impose "unprecedented economic measures" against Iran. US domestic buffers remain a genuine structural story regardless of which way the political news moves: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve stands at 304.8 million barrels, a multi-decade low, even as commercial crude (excl. SPR) posted a surprising 17.4 million barrel build for the week ending Aug 7 -- the largest weekly increase since Jan 2023. Geographically: California, Hawaii, Washington remain the highest-cost states; Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana the cheapest. 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 tracks global wholesale benchmarks with a lag.

AAA-tracked average retail gasoline prices, late June 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 absorbed fuel surcharges at margin level through the spring without major schedule disruption, and the pressure has moved with the crisis since: IATA's Jet Fuel Monitor shows the global benchmark at approximately $160/bbl (last published read, +7.1% w/w) after the war's most volatile week yet -- still well off the ~$181/bbl late-April peak. Their hubs — ATL (Delta), DFW (American), ORD (United) — continue operating to schedule. These remain 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, and this week ran the full cycle again: Iran and Oman appeared to edge closer to a deal on Hormuz routes, Bloomberg reported Saturday, even as Brent still rose almost 6% on fading hopes for full resolution. Trump countered Iran's own compensation demands with his own: Iran must pay compensation for people killed in the conflict. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the US will impose "unprecedented economic measures" against Iran this coming week while maintaining the naval blockade. Physically, the toll kept mounting: two ADNOC vessels were struck transiting Hormuz Thursday, another Friday; UKMTO reported a bulk carrier hit Saturday. Brent settled Friday above $88, up more than 5% for the week. The AAA national average has stayed remarkably steady through all of this, at ~$4.01 per gallon (Aug 10) -- now about 35% above the $2.98 pre-conflict baseline. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve stands at 304.8 million barrels, a multi-decade low, even as commercial crude (excl. SPR) posted its largest weekly build since Jan 2023 (+17.4 Mbbl, w/e Aug 7). The SPR's structural role is for genuine supply emergencies rather than price management, but the sustained low level even as commercial stocks swing sharply is the defining contradiction of the US energy picture.

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 roughly 14 transborder/international routes year-to-date including Toronto–JFK, Montréal–JFK and, added Jun 23, Toronto–Salt Lake City (suspended from Jun 30, not expected back until 2027); Cuba flights have been suspended indefinitely since Jun 5. 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.