Annular air jets are used commercially to attenuate a polymer fiber in the melt-blowing process. As polymer is extruded from a small capillary, the air flow from the jet creates a drag force on the surface of the polymer. The result is a rapid attenuation of the polymer into a fine fiber. In the present work, computational fluid dynamics was used to examine the effect of the polymer fiber on the air flow field from an annular jet, which is a common configuration for melt-blowing dies. The effect of the polymer fiber on the air has often been assumed to be negligible in previous studies of melt blowing. The turbulence in the air flow was simulated using a modification of the Reynolds stress model. An important finding is that the polymer fiber has a dampening effect on the turbulence. In addition, the presence of the polymer leads to an increase in the jet spreading rate. As the inlet air flow rate was decreased relative to the polymer flow rate, the effect of the polymer on the air flow field was observed to become stronger.