The Preamble

The Preamble

Turbulence Ahead

The jet fuel shortage is starting to ripple far beyond airports

Elise Labott's avatar
Elise Labott
May 15, 2026
∙ Paid

Europe has just a few weeks of jet fuel left if the current conditions persist. And this affects more than summer vacations — air travel is part of the global economic infrastructure, moving labor and supplies around the world more quickly than ever before. But with a fuel shortage looming, the systems we’ve all come to rely on are headed for severe dis…

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Elise Labott's avatar
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Elise Labott
Global affairs journalist. I write Cosmopolitics on Substack.
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