Originally Posted by
laxmillenial
Does this actually matter? I thought all airlines except AA hedged their oil bets. Therefore, oil rising in prices don’t affect them till at least a year or more later since they’ve already pre-bought / hedged.
Even if hedged, it matters long-run. Say United has locked in jet fuel for a year at current prices. It still has to consider year 2, 3, etc., and those prices are going to trend upward (typically) as the current price goes up. United can't opportunistically start a route based on its currently hedged prices if it has a sense that prices will be higher in a year or two.