Aviation Week's Window Seat Podcast
Aug 11, 2026 · 24 min · 9 segments
Listen in as energy and oil specialist Chris Russo talks about how airline managers should think about fuel strategy.
Chris RussoGuestKaren WalkerHostUm, [laughs] Chris, I've, I've learned more about oil this, [laughs] this year than I ever dreamt I would, would, and I'm still, of course, you know, not an expert compared with you.
But one of the things I've, y- that you, you've raised there that I've been hearing is that people just don't understand.
They just think it's oil, you know? And then, so when it, when it becomes available again, it's just there.
You know, it, it comes out as crude oil from somewhere, but it's got to be turned into something that can be used, and I don't think people quite understand- That process, and therefore why that will take some time to catch up.
And then the other thing that you've just said, uh, which is obvious if you think about it, the more people are sort of, you know, depleting their reserves, the higher the price will go up.
... "Hey, I need to buy 5 or 10 million barrels of oil, and I need it now, and I'm willing to pay top dollar," right, that will absolutely change the trajectory of the crude oil prices, which then will in turn [laughs] downstream for the refined product.
So the ba- the, the absolute basics of, uh, demand and supply or supply and demand, uh, uh, um, but at the end of the day, governments can't operate without jet fuel.
[laughs] Um, I mean, or, or even sustainable aviation fuel, but that's a whole different topic, and there isn't anywhere near enough of that.
Um, [laughs] Chris, I've, I've learned more about oil this, [laughs] this year than I ever dreamt I would, would, and I'm still, of course, you know, not an expert compared with you.
But one of the things I've, y- that you, you've raised there that I've been hearing is that people just don't understand.
They just think it's oil, you know? And then, so when it, when it becomes available again, it's just there.
You know, it, it comes out as crude oil from somewhere, but it's got to be turned into something that can be used, and I don't think people quite understand- That process, and therefore why that will take some time to catch up.
And then the other thing that you've just said, uh, which is obvious if you think about it, the more people are sort of, you know, depleting their reserves, the higher the price will go up.
... "Hey, I need to buy 5 or 10 million barrels of oil, and I need it now, and I'm willing to pay top dollar," right, that will absolutely change the trajectory of the crude oil prices, which then will in turn [laughs] downstream for the refined product.
So the ba- the, the absolute basics of, uh, demand and supply or supply and demand, uh, uh, um, but at the end of the day, governments can't operate without jet fuel.
[laughs] Um, I mean, or, or even sustainable aviation fuel, but that's a whole different topic, and there isn't anywhere near enough of that.
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