Hilary wrote:
airlines cover all their bases. They get good advance bookings (which
*all* airlines prefer) but don't lose too much money with them.

Actually, with wild fluctuation in petrol prices, airlines have lost
money. Say a passenger bought a ticket before airlines raised prices and
instituted fuel surcharges. He may have paid in advance, but his ticket
won't cover all the fuel cost increases that have happened since.

Airlines with serious hedging are much more protected against this
since, at the time they sell a ticket, they already know what the cost
of their fuel will be at the time the passenger actually travels.
Airlines without serous hedging cannot product what the actual cost of
transporting that passenger will be a year from nwo when he shows up at
the airport.