Air ticket prices in the United States surged 37.8% in May from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, while ticket prices were weak in the same period last year, when travel demand was just beginning to pick up after the country's aggressive vaccination campaign.

Air ticket prices rose 12.6% in May from a month earlier, up 18.6% in April and 10.7% in March, according to the data.

Analysts do not expect ticket prices to fall sharply because of rising fuel costs and manpower shortages. In addition, the number of flights operated in the US has decreased by 12 per cent compared with the summer of 2019, but bookings for business travel and family vacations have surged.

Ed Bastian, chief executive of DAL.US, said last week: "demand has broken the record. He also said that demand in all markets, including leisure travel, business travel and international travel, has rebounded sharply.

What does this mean for airline stocks?

Airlines will update their June indicators and unit income forecasts in the first week of July, when they can see how much fuel and labour inflation has pushed up ticket prices. Some airlines are more vulnerable to fuel costs than others.

It is understood that CPI in the United States rose 8.6 percent in May from a year earlier, the highest since December 1981, and is expected to be 8.3 percent. Earlier, American Airlines (AAL.US) and others said that although revenue in the second quarter was expected to grow faster than expected, rising fuel costs continued to haunt the industry.

Despite the many headwinds facing the airline industry, Spirit Airlines (SAVE.US), Southwest Airlines (LUV.US), United Continental Airlines (UAL.US), Delta Airlines and American Airlines have all outperformed the S & P 500 this year.