ST. LOUIS — America's summer travel season is running headlong into the inflationary and supply-chain pressures upending many sectors of the economy — and it looks like passengers, particularly travelers on the West Coast, will be the ones footing the bill.
Recently released Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found airline prices increased 12.6% in May on a month-to-month basis. Compared to May 2021, average airfares had increased 37.8%.
According to data from Hopper Inc., a provider of online travel services and data, airfare for the nation’s busiest airports are at recent highs. Data provided to The Business Journals found the average domestic roundtrip ticket at the 50-largest airports this summer is $431. On average, fares for the rest of June through Aug. 31 are 94% higher than 2021 levels and 66% higher than 2019 levels, according to Hopper data.
In St. Louis, the price of a summer 2022 roundtrip ticket, as of June 8, was $409, 25th in the nation and an 81% increase from the average ticket price in 2021 and up 49% from 2019. Going back to just March 30, the average ticket price was $262, meaning summer airfare rose by $147, or 56%, in those 10 weeks.
At other nearby airports, in Chicago, the average price of a 2022 summer ticket as of June 8 was $366, up 98% from the average in 2021, and in Kansas City, the average summer ticket was $411, a 76% increase from last year.
Read the full story and explore interactive graphics on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
