Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, speaks at the WSJ’s Future of Everything 2025 event at the Glasshouse on May 29, 2025 in New York.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
BOSTON- United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said soaring fuel prices since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday will have a “significant” impact on the carrier’s financial results this quarter, but he added that demand has been resilient.
Jet fuel, airlines’ biggest expense after labor, has jumped 58% since last Friday, reaching $3.95 a gallon on Thursday, according to the Argus US Jet Fuel Index.
“If this continues, we’ll feel it in the second quarter as well,” Kirby said after an event Thursday afternoon in which he discussed the future of air transportation at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
United, like most major U.S. carriers, does not hedge fuel, a practice in which airlines or other companies lock in prices using futures contracts or other products. A Boeing The 737-800 can hold 6,875 gallons of fuel, according to a manufacturer’s guide.
“Nobody covers anymore and even if you do, it’s really hard to cover up the spread of crack,” Kirby said. The crack spread is the difference between the price of crude oil and that of products like gasoline.
Asked when rising fuel costs would start to affect airfares, Kirby said it would “probably start quickly.”
He added that travel demand has been resilient overall, with booked revenue up 20% from a year ago. Demand “hasn’t gone back a single step,” he said.
Kirby spoke less than two weeks before airlines are scheduled to participate in a closely watched JPMorgan industry conference, where airline executives often update their financial outlooks.
His comments are an early sign of the impact of the war on global airlines, which has left more than a million people stranded after more than 25,000 flights were canceled, forcing customers to find alternatives to the air chaos in the Middle East.
A new segment is emerging for United as many customers have been caught in airspace closures and mass flight cancellations in the Middle East since Saturday’s attacks and other strikes throughout the week.
Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates, is the busiest international airport in the world, according to the Airports Council International, while Hamad International Airport, which serves Doha, Qatar, is another major hub.
Airports are gateways for millions of passengers traveling to and from destinations spanning Australia, India, Europe and North America. But customers have been forced to avoid the Middle East due to airspace closures.
“Every day this week we have booked over 1,000 people from Australia and New Zealand to Europe. Last year we booked less than one per day,” Kirby said, adding that Europe is currently the strongest region in the world for bookings.
United is also in talks with the Trump administration about possible charter flights to get citizens out of the Middle East, Kirby said, but those plans have not yet been outlined.