Will Vacation Inflation Affect Your Summer Travel? Here’s What to Know
Will Vacation Inflation Affect Your Summer Travel? Here’s What to Know  
Podcast: Investing Insights
Published On: Fri May 22 2026
Description: Macroeconomic conditions are squeezing US airlines and travelers just in time for the summer travel season.  Higher fuel costs due to the conflict in the Middle East are pushing up ticket prices. The latest Consumer Price Index report showed fares rose by about 3% in April. Meanwhile, choices for cheap seats decreased when Spirit Airlines went out of business in May. The ultra low-cost carrier blamed soaring energy prices. What does this uptick in energy inflation mean for airlines’ profits and travelers’ wallets?   Nic Owens is an equity analyst for Morningstar and covers the North American airlines. April CPI Report Shows Inflation Broadening As Energy Spike Impact Spreads On this episode: 00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:21 Energy prices and airline profit outlooks 00:02:40 How this summer's travel demand stacks up  00:04:01 Which Big Four airlines are most and least vulnerable  00:05:44 Who will compete for Spirit's former customers 00:07:00 Tips for travelers   00:08:51 What Morningstar’s analyst thinks about airline stocks Watch more from Morningstar: Bond ETF Flows Just Flipped. Here's What It Means for You How Big Tech's Bond Spree and Rising US Debt Are Creating Risks and Opportunities 10 Exceptional Stocks With Double-Digit Dividend Raises   Follow Morningstar on social: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MorningstarInc/ X https://x.com/MorningstarInc Instagram https://www.instagram.com/morningstarinc/?hl=en LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/morningstar/posts/?feedView=all Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.