Airlines Slash Thousands of Flights as Jet Fuel Prices Double from Hormuz Disruptions

President Donald Trump's overall approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his two terms according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey with widespread anger over the war with Iran high gasoline prices and a souring view of the economy driving the decline. The poll of one thousand Americans found just forty percent approving of Trump's job performance down five points from last quarter while fifty-eight percent disapproved. That produced a net approval rating of negative eighteen the worst measured across both of his presidencies. The drop matches the sharpest decline seen during the pandemic in twenty twenty and comes as the conflict in the Middle East disrupts global energy flows in ways that are hitting American families hardest.

The connection between the war and the economic pain is unmistakable. Nearly two months after the United States and Iran clashed the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial traffic. The narrow waterway once carried about twenty percent of the world's oil supply. Its blockage has sent energy prices soaring with jet fuel more than doubling in some markets. Oil exporters are now scrambling for alternative routes but as one CNBC report noted there are no easy options. Pipelines and other pathways cannot quickly replace the volume lost through Hormuz leaving the global economy vulnerable to what amounts to a strategic choke point guarded by a relatively small number of forces. International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol has warned for years that relying on such fragile routes was dangerous yet governments failed to diversify. Now ordinary people are paying the price.

The impact is already rippling through daily life. German airline Lufthansa announced it will cut twenty thousand short-haul flights through October citing the jet fuel shortage caused by the conflict. The carrier is canceling less profitable routes to conserve fuel focusing instead on its main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The move could save forty thousand tons of jet fuel but it will disrupt travel plans for countless passengers and signal broader trouble for the aviation industry. Europe relies on the Middle East for about seventy-five percent of its jet fuel imports making it especially exposed. American carriers and travelers are feeling secondary effects as higher fuel costs push up ticket prices and squeeze the broader economy.

The CNBC survey shows the political fallout is hitting Trump from multiple directions. His net approval among Republicans dropped seventeen points to its lowest level since twenty seventeen. While self-described MAGA voters remain fiercely loyal at ninety-six percent approval non-MAGA Republicans have seen support collapse by nineteen points to just sixty percent. Independent voters also delivered record low marks. Pollster Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies who works for the survey's Republican side downplayed the five-point overall drop calling it unsurprising given the war inflation and gas prices. He noted that Trump still holds sixty percent of the Republican Party in a "very fired up" state. Yet the broader numbers suggest even some traditional GOP supporters are questioning the costs of a conflict that was sold as necessary but now appears to be dragging on without a clear end.

Critics have long warned that American involvement in Middle East fights tends to produce exactly this outcome. Families filling up their tanks or booking summer flights are not interested in geopolitical bargaining chips. They see the direct line from Hormuz to the grocery store to the airport. The war has become a central feature in stop-start peace talks with both sides using the strait as leverage. That uncertainty has only added to market volatility and consumer frustration. The IEA has projected global oil demand could plunge amid the disruptions but for Americans the immediate reality is higher prices and fewer options.

This marks a significant turn for an administration that entered office promising to put American interests first and avoid unnecessary foreign entanglements that bleed the country dry. The economic survey suggests voters are holding the president accountable for outcomes regardless of who fired the first shot or what strategic goals were outlined in Washington or allied capitals. Gas prices do not respond to talking points. Flight cancellations do not care about poll-tested messaging. The numbers reflect a simple truth: when energy costs spike and travel becomes more expensive and unreliable people feel it in their wallets and daily routines.

The coming months will test whether alternative shipping and refining routes can be expanded quickly enough to ease the pressure. For now the combination of a blocked strait doubled fuel prices grounded planes and growing public discontent has produced the most challenging stretch of Trump's current term. The CNBC data shows the erosion is real and it is happening at a moment when the administration can least afford to lose ground with working families already squeezed by years of inflation. How Trump responds to the energy crisis born of this war may well determine if his political coalition holds or fractures further under the weight of higher costs at the pump and in the skies.