Originally Posted by
HUGE AL
And herein lies the problem. I've always said a monkey could run the airlines better than most of the head honchos out there...save WN and JetBlue...and, of course, the foreign carrriers (but let's not get into them...).
Hedging fuel is one of those strategies that work well in hindsight or if you can play a very long game. For WN it worked out great, but as their contracts were running out, oil was flirting around $75 a barrel and many thought it would go higher. Jumping on a new contract at that price and then watching oil dip into the low $50 range a few months later would have been a real gut check. Longer term, I think we'll look back on $75 oil with fond memories, but airlines have to keep an eye on the current quarter as well as play both the long game.