New York, June 10, 2026, 17:55 (EDT)
- American Airlines (AAL) dropped 4.8% to $13.42 as oil prices moved higher and airline names came under pressure.
- A day earlier, a Google deal on sustainable aviation fuel gave AAL a short boost.
- Fuel is the main risk for American. The airline said it has no fuel hedges, so it’s not protected from price swings by any financial contracts.
American Airlines Group Inc. dropped Wednesday. AAL traded at $13.42, down $0.67, after hitting a low of $13.34. Volume was heavy—over 137 million shares traded. Investors shrugged at a sustainable fuel deal backed by Google and zeroed in again on jet fuel costs. That pressure has been dogging airlines all spring.
Fuel tape tipped the story. American Airlines shares got a boost Tuesday after it announced a big sustainable aviation fuel certificate deal with Google, sending AAL up 3.79% to $14.12, according to Benzinga. But by Wednesday, crude prices had jumped and airline stocks sold off, erasing the earlier momentum and bringing margin risk back to focus.
Brent crude hovered near $94.10 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was about $91.18 after Reuters said U.S. crude stocks dropped by 7.2 million barrels last week, a bigger fall than analysts had forecast. That kind of move in crude prices is a worry for airlines, since jet fuel is a big chunk of their costs and fares can’t be raised right away without cutting into demand.
Airline stocks slid with the rest of the market. United Airlines shed 6.2%, Delta Air Lines lost 5.8%. The S&P 500 closed down 1.6%, the Dow dropped 1.9%, and the Nasdaq was off 2%, AP market data showed. Wednesday’s drop in AAL shares tracked the broader pullback, as investors cut risk on airline fuel exposure.
Fuel is a big issue for American right now. The airline told investors in its most recent 10-Q that it hasn’t got any fuel hedging contracts in place. Hedging is a way airlines use financial contracts to guard against fuel price spikes. Without one, American takes the full hit when fuel prices climb. In the same filing, American said every cent more per gallon on jet fuel adds about $45 million to its 2026 annual fuel bill.
Airline fuel costs climbed again in April, new government data show. U.S. scheduled airlines spent $6.47 billion on fuel for the month, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That’s up 26.2% from March, and 78.0% above April 2025. The average price per gallon hit $4.11, rising from $3.17 the month before and $2.31 a year earlier.
Google’s deal with American still has weight, but it’s not a quick earnings boost. The companies said their three-year agreement would deliver 35 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel—SAF—and cut close to 300,000 metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. SAF, a lower-carbon jet fuel, is usually made from used cooking oil or other waste. A SAF certificate lets corporate customers get credit for the environmental benefit, while airlines receive the actual fuel.
American’s sustainability head Jill Blickstein called the deal “a critical step forward” for cutting operating emissions. Google’s sustainability chief Kate Brandt said the long-term pledge is a “vital demand signal” for the market. But these are supply-chain moves for the long haul, not fixes for today’s higher fossil jet-fuel costs. American Airlines Newsroom
Scale stands out. American said it used 1.066 billion gallons of fuel just in the first quarter. By comparison, the SAF tied to Google adds up to 35 million gallons over three years. Investors looking at this see a strategically useful deal, but it’s still too small to move the needle on 2026 fuel costs alone.
American Airlines posted some positives for investors. In April, the company reported a record first-quarter revenue of $13.9 billion, with total revenue up 10.8% from a year ago, helped by stronger passenger and loyalty revenue. CEO Robert Isom at the time said demand was rising and customer satisfaction was getting better. But in the same statement, American warned higher jet fuel costs would push expenses up by over $4 billion compared to 2025.
The risk cuts both ways here. If oil falls and American keeps planes full at higher ticket prices, the stock might bounce back after Wednesday’s drop—revenue has already picked up. But if fuel prices stay up, travelers push back on fares, or more routes get cut heading into summer, American’s lack of fuel hedges and big debt load could make things tight.
American held its virtual annual meeting on Wednesday morning. The webcast is public for two weeks. Investors are less focused on another climate announcement and are looking for signs management can keep profits up, since a one-cent swing in fuel hits annual costs by about $45 million.
