Fuel is the cost an owner sees every time the airplane flies, and it went up again in October. iFlightPlanner, which collects retail prices from FBOs and fuel sellers across the country, published its October figures on Nov. 3: every fuel it tracks rose for the fourth month in a row, after a short dip in June.
The October figures
iFlightPlanner's national averages, from 3,367 FBOs and fuel service providers, at the retail price reported when each was confirmed:
| Fuel | October average | Change from September | | --- | --- | --- | | 100LL, full service | $7.85 | up $0.10 (1.3%) | | 100LL, self service | $6.82 | up $0.15 (2.3%) | | UL94, self service | $7.87 | up $0.19 (2.5%) | | Mogas | $5.79 | up $0.17 (3.1%) | | Jet A, full service | $8.66 | up $0.30 (3.6%) |
Full-service 100LL is up 36 cents since May, when it was $7.49, and 22.1 percent since February. Jet A has climbed faster: 35.1 percent since February. iFlightPlanner gives no reason for the rise, and Hangar Debrief found none from a primary source.
Where an owner can save
Self-serve. The gap between full-service and self-serve 100LL was $1.03 a gallon in October, about 13 percent. iFlightPlanner works it out at about $41 on a 40-gallon fill. The gap was a little wider in September, about 14 percent.
Where the fuel is bought. The national average hides a wide spread. AirNav's fuel report of Nov. 4, from prices reported Oct. 14 to Nov. 4, puts the nationwide 100LL average at $7.40 (AirNav doesn't separate full and self service, so its figures sit between iFlightPlanner's two). By region:
- Southwest $7.02 and Central $7.03, the lowest
- Great Lakes $7.11, Southern $7.33
- Eastern and Northwest Mountain $7.67, Western-Pacific $7.81
- New England $8.03
- Alaska $10.64
On a cross-country, planning the fuel stop at a cheaper airport along the route can matter as much as self-serve. Both iFlightPlanner and AirNav show prices airport by airport.
The other fuels, and what they don't change. Self-serve UL94 averaged $7.87 in October, more than a dollar above self-serve 100LL. Mogas, at $5.79, was the cheapest fuel on the list, but iFlightPlanner notes it is sold at few airports and varies a lot by region. Neither is a choice an owner makes at the pump on price alone. An engine may burn only the fuels its maker approves or that an STC allows; for Lycoming engines that list is Lycoming's Service Instruction No. 1070. In an amateur-built airplane the engine maker's list is still the guide.
Sources: iFlightPlanner, October 2026 Fuel Price Trends: JET A, 100LL Reach New Highs Again, Nov. 3, 2026; AirNav, Fuel price report, Nov. 4, 2026; Lycoming Service Letter No. L197A, Jan. 19, 1988 (its pointer to Service Instruction No. 1070 for the fuels approved for each engine); all read Nov. 4, 2026. AVweb's report of Nov. 3 was the pointer.
Photo: JadeWeserAirport D-EEVB refueling by Jacek Rużyczka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.