thanks, Pi brat. I'd like to say that I have some great insight but it really only takes looking back at history so see that problems in the Middle East arise w/ a fair degree of frequency and have a signficant impact on the airline industry as well as the global economy when it happens.
Yes, alot of analysts are not getting near as excited about these high oil prices as they once did... granted we faced a lot higher but it doesn't take too much to realize that the damage starts to occur long before oil prices hit the stratosphere.
I personally think the US will back governments that need to keep peace and the oil flowing but there is alot of oil in the control of countries like Libya and Iran which the US has no ability to help. Further, if certain groups gain control of some of these governments, they are not the least bit concerned with making money for their country or in keeping the global economies afloat by not allowing oil prices to go too high. Previous oil shocks were usually relatively short lived because those governments quickly saw the damage that happened to the global economy. As less rational parties take control of some countries, it is very possible that the world's very delicate balance regarding alot of things, including food could be thrown out of balance as economics favor using limited resources for energy.
As for hedging by US carriers, UA's hedging details are not as detailed as AA or DL's but it appears that UA is fairly well hedged in the first quarter. CO didn't have as much hedged but that is somewhat to be expected since CO hasn't existed as a separate entity for several months.
UA reported its hedging position as of Dec 31 while AA and DL reported it as of Jan, just before they reported their earnings.
AA and DL have similar hedges; they are both just under 50% hedged for the 1st quarter at levels between $80-90/bbl. Both generally have similar values of hedges (between $75-95) for most of the year although the percentages start to drop off each quarter.
At the current $100/bbl for Nymex crude, those hedges are paying off for AA and DL - and correspondingly creating financial results that will hit the bottom line compared to other carriers.