Airlines saving at the pump

[LN-MOW]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/283783_fuelhedging05.html

Airlines that pay for their jet fuel when they fill up their planes have been forking over far more than $2 a gallon lately -- nearly four times the average price they were paying just four years ago.

High fuel prices have dealt a much milder blow to carriers that have used a practice known as fuel hedging, which most often involves buying futures contracts that allow airlines to fix or cap the price they will pay several months or years in advance.