{"id":"1792706258080-news-show_open","slug":"airlines-new-normal-higher-fares-fewer-flights","title":"Airlines' New Normal: Higher Fares, Fewer Flights","summary":"U.S. airfares rose nearly 23% year-over-year in the seven months through September 2026, and major carriers including Delta, Southwest and American have cut capacity or lowered forecasts as fuel costs outpace fare gains.\n\nXRG, the international investment arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is in early-stage talks with Eni about potentially buying a stake in the Italian company's oil and gas business in Libya, according to sources.","publishedAt":"2026-10-22T21:57:38.080Z","channel":{"id":"news","name":"Oncast News","language":"en"},"show":"News Tonight","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: U.S. airfares rose nearly 23% year-over-year in the seven months through September 2026, and major carriers including Delta, Southwest and American have cut capacity or lowered forecasts as fuel costs outpace fare gains.\nSource: reuters.com (https://x.com/axios/status/2113387564900008190)\n\nTRUE: XRG, the international investment arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is in early-stage talks with Eni about potentially buying a stake in the Italian company's oil and gas business in Libya, according to sources.\nSource: reuters.com POST 2111470688879947959: NOCLAIM NAMES: No tickers, cashtags, or company names requiring explanation. POST 2111853160104869976: NOCLAIM NAMES: No t (https://x.com/Reuters/status/2113387429830836560)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"U.S. airfares rose nearly 23% year-over-year in the seven months through September 2026, and major carriers including Delta, Southwest and American have cut capacity or lowered forecasts as fuel costs outpace fare gains.","sourceName":"reuters.com","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/axios/status/2113387564900008190","claim":"Airlines' new normal: Higher fares, fewer flights https://t.co/79KcHXmdCM","author":"@axios"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"XRG, the international investment arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is in early-stage talks with Eni about potentially buying a stake in the Italian company's oil and gas business in Libya, according to sources.","sourceName":"reuters.com POST 2111470688879947959: NOCLAIM NAMES: No tickers, cashtags, or company names requiring explanation. POST 2111853160104869976: NOCLAIM NAMES: No t","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Reuters/status/2113387429830836560","claim":"ADNOC's XRG in talks to buy stake in Eni's Libya oil and gas business, sources say https://t.co/pbCKv9ZH8R https://t.co/pbCKv9ZH8R","author":"@Reuters"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/axios/status/2113387564900008190","name":"reuters.com","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@axios"},{"url":"https://x.com/Reuters/status/2113387429830836560","name":"reuters.com POST 2111470688879947959: NOCLAIM NAMES: No tickers, cashtags, or company names requiring explanation. POST 2111853160104869976: NOCLAIM NAMES: No t","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@Reuters"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792706258080-news-show_open-airlines-new-normal-higher-fares-fewer-flights","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/news","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792706258080-news-show_open-airlines-new-normal-higher-fares-fewer-flights","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792706258080-news-show_open-airlines-new-normal-higher-fares-fewer-flights and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Brian","text":"Airlines are quietly making flying more expensive and less convenient, and Axios just put a number on it."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Higher fares, fewer flights — that's the new normal they're describing?"},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's the headline. Airfares up nearly twenty-three percent year-over-year through September."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Twenty-three percent. That's not a small bump, that's a real squeeze on anyone who flies."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And it's not just one airline. Delta, Southwest, American — all cutting capacity or lowering forecasts."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Because fuel costs are outpacing what they can charge. So they fly less and charge more."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Exactly. And the frustrating part is, they're not even hiding it. It's just... the new normal."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Great. So the golden age of cheap flights is officially over, and nobody sent a memo."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The memo was the price at checkout. Speaking of oil money, here's a deal that could reshape Libya's energy."},{"host":"Bella","text":"ADNOC's investment arm, XRG, is in early talks to buy a stake in Eni's oil and gas business in Libya."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Reuters is reporting this. Abu Dhabi's national oil company moving into Libya, where Eni has been for decades."},{"host":"Bella","text":"This is a big deal. Libya's oil sector has been unstable for years, and now a Gulf giant wants in."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's a bet that Libya can stabilize, or at least that the oil will keep flowing. And ADNOC has the cash."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But early-stage talks, sources say. Nothing signed. Still, the direction is clear."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Gulf money is moving into North African energy. That's a story worth watching."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Now, something that's been building all week — and it's not about oil or airlines."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Rolling Stone just reported that a medical trial the WHO called 'unethical' will not move forward."},{"host":"Bella","text":"This is after months of their reporting. The trial is being stopped."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The WHO's word — unethical — is about as strong as it gets in medical research."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And Rolling Stone says their investigation is what brought it to light. That's journalism doing its job."},{"host":"Brian","text":"The details are in their piece, but the headline is: a trial that shouldn't have happened won't."},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's a win for patients and for accountability. But it raises a bigger question."},{"host":"Brian","text":"How many other trials are out there that haven't been caught yet?"},{"host":"Bella","text":"That's the uncomfortable part. This one got stopped because someone kept digging."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And now, a different kind of story — one that's been simmering on Bluesky all day."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Josh Marshall, the founder of Talking Points Memo, posted a link to a Washington Post story with just... 'ummm.'"},{"host":"Brian","text":"That's the whole post, and it's got people talking."},{"host":"Bella","text":"The article is about politics, and Marshall's reaction is basically: you have to see this."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It's the kind of post that works because he's built trust. When he says 'ummm,' people click."},{"host":"Bella","text":"And the replies are full of people trying to guess what he's reacting to. It's a whole thing."},{"host":"Brian","text":"But here's the one that's actually starting a real argument. Ryan Enos, a political scientist at Harvard."},{"host":"Bella","text":"He says the idea that Trump made right-wing politics cool among young people was a 'mass delusion.'"},{"host":"Brian","text":"And he's not stopping there. He says it rivals the myth that Trump built a multi-racial coalition."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Okay, I have thoughts. Because for years we heard that Trump was winning over young men in droves."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And the data did show a shift. Young men, especially, moved right. That wasn't nothing."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But Enos is saying the 'cool' part was the delusion. The shift was real, but it wasn't about coolness."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It was about grievance, about feeling left behind. That's different from thinking Trump is cool."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But come on — there was a whole aesthetic. The memes, the flags, the trucks. That looked like a cultural movement."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It looked like one. But Enos is saying the numbers never backed up the 'cool' narrative. It was a media story."},{"host":"Bella","text":"So you're saying the media invented the idea that young people thought Trump was cool?"},{"host":"Brian","text":"I'm saying the data was always more complicated. And Enos is right to call out the oversimplification."},{"host":"Bella","text":"But you can't deny that something changed. Young men did move right, and it wasn't just policy."},{"host":"Brian","text":"It was identity. But identity isn't the same as cool. That's his point, and it's a good one."},{"host":"Bella","text":"Fine. I'll give him this: the 'cool' framing was lazy. But the shift was real."},{"host":"Brian","text":"And that's the argument. The explanation is what's in dispute, and that's worth debating."},{"host":"Bella","text":"We'll keep an eye on that one. For now, that's the show — we're just getting started."},{"host":"Brian","text":"Coming up, we've got more on the stories driving the day."}]}