Just as soaring inflation has lifted gas prices at the pump under President Joe Biden, now its hitting domestic travel. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian warned Thursday the airlines’ U.S. ticket prices could increase between five and 10 percent in coming weeks as oil costs continue to climb.
The leap in fuel costs for a U.S. domestic flight “is probably about $25 on a ticket, that could be anywhere between 5% to 10% at these high levels of oil … and international [flights] will be a bit higher than that,” Bastian told the BBC in an interview Thursday.
In addition to raising the price of U.S. tickets, Delta is planning to implement an added fuel fee for international flights.
Other airlines, such as AirAsia, Emirates and Japan Airlines have also taken similar steps by adding fuel surcharges, according to the BBC report.
The news comes as oil prices show little if any path downwards in the immediate future and the American public holds slim hopes for change under the current administration.
As Breitbart News reported, oil prices surged higher on Thursday as markets absorbed the latest news about the fighting in Ukraine and better than expected numbers in the U.S. labor market, home construction, and industrial output.
Biden’s response to any changes in oil prices and/or inflation has been to deflect all blame onto outside forces as travelers return to the skies after a two-year break because of coronavirus.
Travelers collect their luggage at baggage claim after arriving at O’Hare International Airport on March 11, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. The airport, which typically serves 8.2 million passengers a month, is returning to capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced air travel. ( Scott Olson/Getty)
This argument is beginning to wear thin even with those predisposed to backing him.
David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s former political consultant, curbed the president’s constant claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is somehow the only person responsible for soaring inflation numbers and skyrocketing gas prices — which started before the unprovoked attack on Ukraine, as Breitbart News reported.
“Why not just be blunt with people … now they’ve overcorrected, and for a few days he [President Joe Biden] was saying, you know, everything was Putin’s price hikes, inflation was Putin’s fault,” Axelrod said during a recent episode on the Hacks on Tap podcast he helped start.
“People don’t believe that either. They know that we had inflation before this,” Axelrod continued. “They know that guy prices were high before this. They haven’t dialed this in quite right yet. You can’t blame everything in the economy on Putin.”
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