The latest Consumer Price Index shows that November airfares were down 5.4% year over year. That's a marked difference from September, when fares were up 3.2%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not produce CPI figures for October due to the government shutdown.
Fares edged up in the late summer and early fall, rebounding from price drops that came amid uncertainty about President Trump's tariffs.
November's price drop might have been impacted by the federal government shutdown. In a regulatory filing in early December, Delta reported a temporary softening of demand in November, with healthy demand resuming when the shutdown was over. Alaska Air Group similarly reported a demand dip during the shutdown, followed by a recovery, though not a full one, in the ensuing weeks.