Elizabeth Warren hailed blocking the $3.8B Spirit-JetBlue merger as a 'Biden win for flyers.' Now Spirit is gone

[nobody]

13 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

   Again the Spirit CEO even warned that he didn’t think it would get approved.

 

Everyone knew it wouldn't get approved because the Biden admin.

[WhiteWonder]

1 minute ago, nobody said:

Everyone knew it wouldn't get approved because the Biden admin.

I would think most of the time, an administrations antitrust divisions sending strong messages against mergers would be enough to end them. The larger, acquiring company likely doesn't want to deal with the potential lawsuit. 

i.e. Amazon and iRobot under Biden.

[TimHauck]

8 minutes ago, nobody said:

Everyone knew it wouldn't get approved because the Biden admin.

Not Spirit’s shareholders, apparently

[Engorgeous George]

I wonder about airline costs and profits.  I get that fuel costs have doubled.  What I don't know is what % of operating costs are for fuel as opposed to flight crews, ground crews, maintenance, cleaning, and gate fees.  Seems to me most of Spirits routes (though there are excptions) are fairly short hops with fairly small planes. Most typical would be NY to Miami in a 737.  That route looks to use around 1000 gallons of fuel.  With the costs of fuel increases that means a route would be $2000 less profitable than previously.  I find it difficult to believe that their margins were so small, but perhaps they were.  If so I wonder how long they could have held on anyway as their personnel would eventually have wanted raises likely to more than equate to the fuel increase.  The whole thing strikes me as a bad commercial enterprise given capital costs vs profits and potential huge liabilities from sporadic accidents.  I guess that was the Gordon Gecko point in the movie Wall Street. 

[jerryskids]

On 5/3/2026 at 11:34 AM, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Folks, this happened for one reason: the spiking jet fuel costs caused by one man.

 

8 hours ago, TimHauck said:

They were in trouble already.  But the fuel price spike directly caused by the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin

 

1 hour ago, Engorgeous George said:

I wonder about airline costs and profits.  I get that fuel costs have doubled.  What i don't know is what % of operating costs are for fuel as opposed to flight crews, ground crews, maintenance, cleaning, and gate fees.  Seems to me most of Jet blues routes (though there are excptions) are fairly short hops with fairly smakll planes. Most typical would be NY to Miami.  That route looks to use around 1000 gallons of fuel.  With the costsof fuel increases that means a route would be $2000 less profitable than previously.  i find it difficult to believe that their margins were so small, but perhaps they were.  If so i wonder how long they could have held on anyway as their personnel would eventually have wanted raises likely to more than equate to the fuel increase.  The whole thing strikes me as a bad commercial enterprise given capitqal costs vs profits and potential huge liabilities from sporadic accidents.  I guess that was the Gordon Gecko point in the movie Wall Street. 

In business school 20+ years ago, to learn about hedging, the professor used the example of airlines and jet fuel.

Airlines are not in the oil business, they are in the airline business.  If they knew what direction oil prices would go on any given day/week/month, they wouldn't waste time with airlines, they would make trillions of dollars on the oil markets.

As such, a well-managed airline would purchase oil futures to set their cost to a known, manageable value.  They know roughly how much fuel they will need in the future.  So, say they enter a contract to buy the amount of fuel (oil) they need 3 months for now at $80/barrel.  If oil goes down to $60, sucks for them, they are still paying $80.  If it goes to $100, great for them for the same reason.  The important thing is they can manage their business at the known price of $80.

It's kinda why these markets existed in the first place.

Oh, and I mostly tagged Moderate Tim because of his use of the TDS descriptor "voluntary" war.  I could argue that semantically, all wars are voluntary, but I'll stick with: so moderate of him.   

[TimHauck]

Just now, jerryskids said:

 

 

In business school 20+ years ago, to learn about hedging, the professor used the example of airlines and jet fuel.

Airlines are not in the oil business, they are in the airline business.  If they knew what direction oil prices would go on any given day/week/month, they wouldn't waste time with airlines, they would make trillions of dollars on the oil markets.

As such, a well-managed airline would purchase oil futures to set their cost to a known, manageable value.  They know roughly how much fuel they will need in the future.  So, say they enter a contract to buy the amount of fuel (oil) they need 3 months for now at $80/barrel.  If oil goes down to $60, sucks for them, they are still paying $80.  If it goes to $100, great for them for the same reason.  The important thing is they can manage their business at the known price of $80.

It's kinda why these markets existed in the first place.

Oh, and I mostly tagged Moderate Tim because of his use of the TDS descriptor "voluntary" war.  I could argue that semantically, all wars are voluntary, but I'll stick with: so moderate of him.   

Just stating facts.

[SaintsInDome2006]

9 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

In business school 20+ years ago, to learn about hedging, the professor used the example of airlines and jet fuel.

Airlines are not in the oil business, they are in the airline business.  If they knew what direction oil prices would go on any given day/week/month, they wouldn't waste time with airlines, they would make trillions of dollars on the oil markets.

As such, a well-managed airline would purchase oil futures to set their cost to a known, manageable value.  They know roughly how much fuel they will need in the future.  So, say they enter a contract to buy the amount of fuel (oil) they need 3 months for now at $80/barrel.  If oil goes down to $60, sucks for them, they are still paying $80.  If it goes to $100, great for them for the same reason.  The important thing is they can manage their business at the known price of $80.

It's kinda why these markets existed in the first place.

Im sorry but everything comes with rational predictors, assumptions & horizons. There are a *lot of companies of all political stripes that went out of business because of Covid, or the 2008 market crash, or the S&L crisis, or the OPEC oil crisis, through no fault of their own or their political perspectives. This is why stability & predictability are key.

[Maximum Overkill]

She's Indian 

[Mark Davis]

3 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

it's a little more nuanced than that, I think. Trump admin FTC and DOJ sued to block 3 mergers in 2025. Biden admin FTC and DOJ sued to block 7 mergers annually. Often times, the threat of action has been enough to get companies to drop merger plans. The Biden Admin FTC and DOJ only filed 30ish lawsuits in their 4 years while 70ish total mergers were "abandoned" or blocked. 

not even condemning the Biden admin as much as providing food for thought. It wouldn't always come down to judges. 

That was kind of my take.  It took the FTC and DOJ to bring these issues in front of a judge.  

Either way, this company had a flawed business model/plan.  It was teetering on collapse going into this.  I suspect Jet Blue would have been fine had the merger gone through but I haven't studied Jet Blue's balance sheet enough to declaratively say.

[jerryskids]

24 minutes ago, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Im sorry but everything comes with rational predictors, assumptions & horizons. There are a *lot of companies of all political stripes that went out of business because of Covid, or the 2008 market crash, or the S&L crisis, or the OPEC oil crisis, through no fault of their own or their political perspectives. This is why stability & predictability are key.

I'm sorry, but fuel prices are a known significant, volatile expense for an airline.  That's why it was used as the hedging example in B-school.  To equate that with a stock market crash or a once in a century pandemic which destroys entire economies is disingenuous, to be kind.

But like I said, this was 20+ years ago.  Perhaps corporations are not expected to implement sound business practices by shareholders any more. 

[SaintsInDome2006]

28 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I'm sorry, but fuel prices are a known significant, volatile expense for an airline.  That's why it was used as the hedging example in B-school.  To equate that with a stock market crash or a once in a century pandemic which destroys entire economies is disingenuous, to be kind.

But like I said, this was 20+ years ago.  Perhaps corporations are not expected to implement sound business practices by shareholders any more. 

Jet fuel prices have gone up 70% in 8 weeks.

If they were budgeting & projecting say 2 years out, what event should they have forecast for? This is arguably a black swan event (which is not forecast for) & it’s arguably entirely literally based on one person’s whim.

[WhiteWonder]

31 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

I'm sorry, but fuel prices are a known significant, volatile expense for an airline.  That's why it was used as the hedging example in B-school.  To equate that with a stock market crash or a once in a century pandemic which destroys entire economies is disingenuous, to be kind.

But like I said, this was 20+ years ago.  Perhaps corporations are not expected to implement sound business practices by shareholders any more. 

 

bingo. fuel price fluctuations are one of the most important things airlines factor in. including best and worst case scenarios 

[SaintsInDome2006]

1 minute ago, WhiteWonder said:

 

bingo. fuel price fluctuations are one of the most important things airlines factor in. including best and worst case scenarios 

Really. How many times have we seen a 70% increase over 8 weeks in the history of jet fuel? Do you put unpredictable extreme anti-historical outliers into your projections?

[WhiteWonder]

1 minute ago, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Really. How many times have we seen a 70% increase over 8 weeks in the history of jet fuel? Do you put unpredictable extreme anti-historical outliers into your projections?

To Jerry's point, fluctuating fuel prices are near the top of every airlines radar because they are so key to the industry and prices fluctuate for many reasons. I would bet they have teams dedicated to forecasting how long an airline can survive if prices rise to XX for XX amount of time, just as how much additional profit they will make if prices drop to XX... 

it's not even close to something like a global pandemic...   which I believe was his point

[Mike Hunt]

On 5/3/2026 at 2:27 PM, easilyscan said:

 

Spirit Airlines has historically positioned itself as an inclusive employer and a supporter of LGBTQ+ initiatives, featuring an LGBTQIA+ Resource Group and participating in community events.

 

Key details regarding Spirit Airlines' involvement in LGBTQ+ issues:

• Corporate & Employee Support: Spirit established an LGBTQIA+ Resource Group and supported the National Gay Pilot Association (NGPA).
• Pride Involvement: The airline sponsored the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade and featured their LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group in, as this video shows, internal and external communications, as reported by this TikTok video.
• Diversity Initiatives: Spirit highlighted their commitment to diversity in their 2022 DEI&B Impact Report, which mentioned expanding uniform policies for flight attendants to be more inclusive, as described in this Facebook post.

 

Squid must fly Spirit.

[SaintsInDome2006]

Just now, WhiteWonder said:

To Jerry's point, fluctuating fuel prices are near the top of every airlines radar because they are so key to the industry and prices fluctuate for many reasons. I would bet they have teams dedicated to forecasting how long an airline can survive if prices rise to XX for XX amount of time, just as how much additional profit they will make if prices drop to XX... 

it's not even close to something like a global pandemic...   which I believe was his point

Wait. But that’s what this is. It’s different but it is very much a crisis.

And actually arguably you could fathomable predict ‘yes there may well be a global pandemic in the next 20 years’ (because people did so predict) a lot easier than ‘an American president will unilaterally upset the global economic order because he reacted emotionally to a 3 am phone call from a foreign political ally’. I wouldn’t budget/project for the former but I’d do it before I did the latter.

[WhiteWonder]

Just now, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Wait. But that’s what this is. It’s different but it is very much a crisis.

And actually arguably you could fathomable predict ‘yes there may well be a global pandemic in the next 20 years’ (because people did so predict) a lot easier than ‘an American president will unilaterally upset the global economic order because he reacted emotionally to a 3 am phone call from a foreign political ally’. I wouldn’t budget/project for the former but I’d do it before I did the latter.

speaking of reacting emotionally , your emotions are clouding your common sense here. Airlines may now be thinking about pandemic situations because it recently happened but a global pandemic was not on their radar... or at least not anywhere close to anything having to do with fuel prices. Please get real.  Even if no one is forecasting for this specific level of rise, you can bet they are forecasting for various doomsday scenarios regarding fuel as it is literally the lifeblood of their business. 

[easilyscan]

8 minutes ago, Mike Hunt said:

Squid must fly Spirit.

Not anymore!

[TBayXXXVII]

On 5/3/2026 at 3:13 PM, SaintsInDome2006 said:

I’m conservative & I’m Republican in the sense that traditionally conservatives & Republicans resisted corporate takeovers.

GTFOH with that.  No one here believes you.  We all know you're an extreme leftist.

[easilyscan]

Apologies if this was already mentioned.

Many, but not all, major airlines hedge against sudden jet fuel price spikes using financial instruments like futures contracts and call options to lock in lower prices, although this practice is now far more common among international carriers than in the U.S.

 

 

[nobody]

27 minutes ago, easilyscan said:

Apologies if this was already mentioned.

Many, but not all, major airlines hedge against sudden jet fuel price spikes using financial instruments like futures contracts and call options to lock in lower prices, although this practice is now far more common among international carriers than in the U.S.

 

 

Dang.  I posted a similar post 26 minutes after this.  I didn't bother reading the latest replies because I was positive no one else would've been aware of the practice.

[easilyscan]

1 minute ago, nobody said:

Dang.  I posted a similar post 26 minutes after this.  I didn't bother reading the latest replies because I was positive no one else would've been aware of the practice.

Great minds think alike..lol

[The Girlfriend]

Geeks sure love their right wing talking points.

Did anyone mention that JetBlue is probably next?  And this merger would have surely doomed both of them while further reducing consumer choice?

[WhiteWonder]

2 hours ago, jerryskids said:

 

 

In business school 20+ years ago, to learn about hedging, the professor used the example of airlines and jet fuel.

Airlines are not in the oil business, they are in the airline business.  If they knew what direction oil prices would go on any given day/week/month, they wouldn't waste time with airlines, they would make trillions of dollars on the oil markets.

As such, a well-managed airline would purchase oil futures to set their cost to a known, manageable value.  They know roughly how much fuel they will need in the future.  So, say they enter a contract to buy the amount of fuel (oil) they need 3 months for now at $80/barrel.  If oil goes down to $60, sucks for them, they are still paying $80.  If it goes to $100, great for them for the same reason.  The important thing is they can manage their business at the known price of $80.

It's kinda why these markets existed in the first place.

Oh, and I mostly tagged Moderate Tim because of his use of the TDS descriptor "voluntary" war.  I could argue that semantically, all wars are voluntary, but I'll stick with: so moderate of him.   

this is why I get along so well with you. 

not only did you perfectly describe what airlines do... you mentioned the voluntary war quip that I was going to address earlier today 

[Engorgeous George]

2 hours ago, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Im sorry but everything comes with rational predictors, assumptions & horizons. There are a *lot of companies of all political stripes that went out of business because of Covid, or the 2008 market crash, or the S&L crisis, or the OPEC oil crisis, through no fault of their own or their political perspectives. This is why stability & predictability are key.

Or we could move to a new pricing policy, say a fixed and known price for your seat and a fuel surcharge on the date of the flight based upon your weight and the price of jet fuel that day.  

 

Think of the fun as we all, women included, go through the weigh in line to be assessed our surcahrge.  Or perhaps we could have those carnival guys guess our weight and go with that.

[TimHauck]

28 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

this is why I get along so well with you. 

not only did you perfectly describe what airlines do... you mentioned the voluntary war quip that I was going to address earlier today 

I was just stating facts 

[jerryskids]

Please stop.  You think that if an airline listed an expense pre-pandemic on their balance sheet related to "amorphous TBD pandemic that shuts down the economy," their shareholders would have thought nothing of it.  But to hedge against unrest causing oil price fluctuations in the generally calm and serene Middle East  would have been beyond the pale.

I notice also you used a very specific emotional screed about Trump vs. the infinitely more likely scenario I pointed out.  That is because you are posting like an emotional teenage girl now.

The likelihood is that Spirit didn't hedge because they were a budget airline and hedging costs money; one of the basic tenets of finance is that a safe dollar is worth more than a risky dollar, and the market extracts a fee for that safety.

[jerryskids]

1 hour ago, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Jet fuel prices have gone up 70% in 8 weeks.

If they were budgeting & projecting say 2 years out, what event should they have forecast for? This is arguably a black swan event (which is not forecast for) & it’s arguably entirely literally based on one person’s whim.

Perhaps you don't understand how hedging works.  I tried to explain it, but it is a bit of a complex concept.  I suggest you ask your favorite AI to explain it to you in simple terms.

[easilyscan]

9 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

Or we could move to a new pricing policy, say a fixed and known price for your seat and a fuel surcharge on the date of the flight based upon your weight and the price of jet fuel that day.  

 

Think of the fun as we all, women included, go through the weigh in line to be assessed our surcahrge.  Or perhaps we could have those carnival guys guess our weight and go with that.

That would be priceless 

[Mark Davis]

1 hour ago, easilyscan said:

Apologies if this was already mentioned.

Many, but not all, major airlines hedge against sudden jet fuel price spikes using financial instruments like futures contracts and call options to lock in lower prices, although this practice is now far more common among international carriers than in the U.S.

 

 

I actually used to do mergers and acquisitions as a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company.  When projecting fuel, I always used the futures market.  My old supervisor asked me once, "Why don't you use our in house economist?"  I told him if that guy knew what was going to happen better than the futures market he would be at home trading rather than up in this office.

[SaintsInDome2006]

12 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Perhaps you don't understand how hedging works.  I tried to explain it, but it is a bit of a complex concept.  I suggest you ask your favorite AI to explain it to you in simple terms.

Thanks, seriously. I’ll look, info try to learn here.

[easilyscan]

13 minutes ago, Mark Davis said:

I told him if that guy knew what was going to happen better than the futures market he would be at home trading rather than up in this office.

Great point.

I hope I don't ruffle any feathers here, but that's the same response I have when technicians claim they know how an individual stock is going to move going forward. Show a technical analyst a one-year candlestick chart & they'll say things like, I could've told you it was going to zig here, & zag there, etc 

I don't completely discount technical analysis. If I'm considering a new position I look for things like strong support and/or resistance levels, but beyond that, a large grain of salt is required. 

 

 

[TimHauck]

3 hours ago, SaintsInDome2006 said:

Im sorry but everything comes with rational predictors, assumptions & horizons. There are a *lot of companies of all political stripes that went out of business because of Covid, or the 2008 market crash, or the S&L crisis, or the OPEC oil crisis, through no fault of their own or their political perspectives. This is why stability & predictability are key.

I’d argue that any business that goes out of business because of a really bad month or two wasn’t in a good spot financially to begin with, as Spirit was here.  But it is absolutely undeniable that the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin for them.

Here’s a good article that lays out a lot of the points I’ve made (and more), which I’m sure the righties will dismiss as the author having TDS but this guy has been writing mostly non-political business stuff for awhile:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/who-killed-spirit-airlines

TL/DR on some of the key points:

1.  The sudden spike in oil prices due to the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin

2. Spirit’s CEO was very clear at the time that he didn’t think the deal with JetBlue would get approved, but the deal with Frontier would have. 

3.  If the merger went through, JetBlue predicted fares on routes Spirit flew would rise ~30%.

4.  JetBlue itself is in trouble and is at risk of going bankrupt themselves.  If they were already merged with Spirit that could have happened sooner.  This is actually part of the reason the deal was blocked in the first place.

5. Despite having the lion’s share of the market, the big airlines hated Spirit and wanted them to fail.  They urged the Trump admin not to bail them out, and in the past big airlines have engaged in predatory pricing trying to drive smaller airlines out of business.

[jerryskids]

5 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I’d argue that any business that goes out of business because of a really bad month or two wasn’t in a good spot financially to begin with, as Spirit was here.  But it is absolutely undeniable that the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin for them.

Here’s a good article that lays out a lot of the points I’ve made (and more), which I’m sure the righties will dismiss as the author having TDS but this guy has been writing mostly non-political business stuff for awhile:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/who-killed-spirit-airlines

TL/DR on some of the key points:

1.  The sudden spike in oil prices due to the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin

2. Spirit’s CEO was very clear at the time that he didn’t think the deal with JetBlue would get approved, but the deal with Frontier would have. 

3.  If the merger went through, JetBlue predicted fares on routes Spirit flew would rise ~30%.

4.  JetBlue itself is in trouble and is at risk of going bankrupt themselves.  If they were already merged with Spirit that could have happened sooner.  This is actually part of the reason the deal was blocked in the first place.

5. Despite having the lion’s share of the market, the big airlines hated Spirit and wanted them to fail.  They urged the Trump admin not to bail them out, and in the past big airlines have engaged in predatory pricing trying to drive smaller airlines out of business.

All wars are voluntary, Moderate, Redundant Tim.

[seafoam1]

4 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I’d argue that any business that goes out of business because of a really bad month or two wasn’t in a good spot financially to begin with, as Spirit was here.  But it is absolutely undeniable that the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin for them.

Here’s a good article that lays out a lot of the points I’ve made (and more), which I’m sure the righties will dismiss as the author having TDS but this guy has been writing mostly non-political business stuff for awhile:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/who-killed-spirit-airlines

TL/DR on some of the key points:

1.  The sudden spike in oil prices due to the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin

2. Spirit’s CEO was very clear at the time that he didn’t think the deal with JetBlue would get approved, but the deal with Frontier would have. 

3.  If the merger went through, JetBlue predicted fares on routes Spirit flew would rise ~30%.

4.  JetBlue itself is in trouble and is at risk of going bankrupt themselves.  If they were already merged with Spirit that could have happened sooner.  This is actually part of the reason the deal was blocked in the first place.

5. Despite having the lion’s share of the market, the big airlines hated Spirit and wanted them to fail.  They urged the Trump admin not to bail them out, and in the past big airlines have engaged in predatory pricing trying to drive smaller airlines out of business.

Anyone need proof of how dumb liberals are? 

[TimHauck]

1 minute ago, jerryskids said:

All wars are voluntary, Moderate, Redundant Tim.

Not really.  If someone attacks you I wouldn’t call that a voluntary war. 

[jerryskids]

Just now, TimHauck said:

Not really.  If someone attacks you I wouldn’t call that a voluntary war. 

Then you would be incorrect.  You can choose not to fight back.

[SaintsInDome2006]

8 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

I’d argue that any business that goes out of business because of a really bad month or two wasn’t in a good spot financially to begin with, as Spirit was here.  But it is absolutely undeniable that the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin for them.

Here’s a good article that lays out a lot of the points I’ve made (and more), which I’m sure the righties will dismiss as the author having TDS but this guy has been writing mostly non-political business stuff for awhile:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/who-killed-spirit-airlines

TL/DR on some of the key points:

1.  The sudden spike in oil prices due to the voluntary war with Iran was the nail in the coffin

2. Spirit’s CEO was very clear at the time that he didn’t think the deal with JetBlue would get approved, but the deal with Frontier would have. 

3.  If the merger went through, JetBlue predicted fares on routes Spirit flew would rise ~30%.

4.  JetBlue itself is in trouble and is at risk of going bankrupt themselves.  If they were already merged with Spirit that could have happened sooner.  This is actually part of the reason the deal was blocked in the first place.

5. Despite having the lion’s share of the market, the big airlines hated Spirit and wanted them to fail.  They urged the Trump admin not to bail them out, and in the past big airlines have engaged in predatory pricing trying to drive smaller airlines out of business.

I’m going to go to look at Jerry’s research before I go further, but this wasnt a mere ‘rough patch’, like a downturn or something. It’s a global economic crisis.

[WhiteWonder]

Just now, TimHauck said:

Not really.  If someone attacks you I wouldn’t call that a voluntary war. 

Probably because it's not really war until you decide to declare it and fight back. 

[TimHauck]

2 hours ago, easilyscan said:

Apologies if this was already mentioned.

Many, but not all, major airlines hedge against sudden jet fuel price spikes using financial instruments like futures contracts and call options to lock in lower prices, although this practice is now far more common among international carriers than in the U.S.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, nobody said:

Dang.  I posted a similar post 26 minutes after this.  I didn't bother reading the latest replies because I was positive no one else would've been aware of the practice.

 

44 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Please stop.  You think that if an airline listed an expense pre-pandemic on their balance sheet related to "amorphous TBD pandemic that shuts down the economy," their shareholders would have thought nothing of it.  But to hedge against unrest causing oil price fluctuations in the generally calm and serene Middle East  would have been beyond the pale.

I notice also you used a very specific emotional screed about Trump vs. the infinitely more likely scenario I pointed out.  That is because you are posting like an emotional teenage girl now.

The likelihood is that Spirit didn't hedge because they were a budget airline and hedging costs money; one of the basic tenets of finance is that a safe dollar is worth more than a risky dollar, and the market extracts a fee for that safety.

I’m seeing multiple articles saying US airlines largely no longer hedged against oil prices

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/analysisus-airlines-no-longer-hedge-fuel-costs-that-could-hurt-margins-if-iran-conflict-lingers-4546356

https://aviationnews-online.com/public/index.php/article/fuel-hedging-no-longer-a-sectorwide-shock-absorber-amid-ongoing-middle-east-conflict-says-kbra