Airfare Prices Fall, Helping Bring Down Overall Inflation
Airfares took another dive last month, following a wild ride over the past year, reflecting volatile energy prices and swings in demand.Prices have dropped 18.9 percent in the year through June, or 8.1 percent between May and June, even as passenger traffic has reached record highs. The numbers are somewhat deceptive, however, because of a combination of circumstances.Ticket prices spiked last summer as Americans planned the vacations they were denied during the pandemic. At the same time, airlines struggled to provide seats, having mothballed planes while nobody was flying and having let go of staff in a wave of retirements by pilots and other personnel. Then, jet fuel prices shot up, and air carriers passed the extra costs on to customers.Those factors have eased markedly in recent mont...