Thanksgiving airfares are soaring, driving down flight bookings for the holiday

Some Americans are choosing to stay put instead of traveling for Thanksgiving, typically the busiest time of year for airlines, due to the high cost of airline tickets. 

Average fares for the Thanksgiving holiday were up 31% in August, compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis of the latest available data from Cirium. The spike in flight costs has driven down bookings for the period by 1.6%, according to the aviation analytics firm.

Bookings to the following locales have dropped even more substantially, Cirium found:

• Newark (-24.6%)
• Seattle (-15.3%)
• Miami (-13.2%)
• Dallas (-12.6%)
• Denver (-11.6%)
• San Francisco (-11.7%)

Rising jet fuel costs stemming from the war in Iran have increased airlines' operating costs. To offset those expenses, airlines have hiked fares, tacked on passenger surcharges and cut routes.

Airlines have said they expect fares to remain elevated for some time even if the Middle East conflict subsides, noting that their fuel costs are substantially higher than they were this time last year. 

"It's expensive to fly airplanes," Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, told Wall Street analysts in a conference call last week. "I think the tide has to rise for everyone or those airlines simply won't exist."

Jet fuel represents airlines' second-largest expense after payroll costs, which have also risen under recently renegotiated labor contracts with pilots and flight attendants.