Key Points
- Jet fuel prices doubled in 2026, and JetBlue President Marty St. George said this week that airline pricing has yet to find its equilibrium as costs keep climbing.
- Skift frames the margin question around five counterparties that decide who absorbs the fuel bill: manufacturers, unions, premium travelers, airports, and the banks behind co-brand cards.
- Aircraft are scarce and consolidation has stalled, with a delivery-slot squeeze that runs to roughly 2033 — making every growth and fleet decision for 2027 heavier.
Summary
Skift Aviation Forum 2026 convenes at the TWA Hotel at JFK on November 12, preceded by Skift Commerce Summit on November 11 at Apella by Alexandria, with a program built around one condition: jet fuel prices doubled in 2026 and airlines have not yet found a fare level that covers the increase. JetBlue President Marty St. George, in conversation with Brian Sumers of The Airline Observer, said this week that airline pricing has yet to find its equilibrium as costs keep climbing; his session closes the Commerce Summit and opens the forum. The agenda is organized by executive role. Commercial and revenue leaders get American Airlines’ Nat Pieper on premium and loyalty as American slows growth for 2027, and IAG’s Luis Gallego on holding margin through a fuel spike. Network and fleet leaders get Breeze Airways’ David Neeleman on growth and mergers, Embraer’s Arjan Meijer and Porter’s Kevin Jackson on whether smaller jets ease a delivery-slot squeeze running to roughly 2033, and Airbus North America’s Robin Hayes. Loyalty and distribution sessions address programs now worth more than the airlines that own them and AI shopping tools that compare every program in seconds, with Agoda’s Damien Pfirsch, Delta, Allianz Partners, Flying Blue, and oneworld. Airports and operations sessions feature Los Angeles World Airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air Canada, American Express Travel, and Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA on labor’s place in the margin story as Ryanair pushes pay freezes.
