Airlines, Oil Prices | featured news

Falling oil prices are typically good news for airlines as fuel accounts for more than a third of their operating costs, but not all carriers are benefiting due to fuel hedging.

Delta Air Lines said on Monday that it will buy a refinery near Philadelphia in the hope of slicing $300 million a year from its jet fuel bill.

United Continental Holdings Inc., the world's biggest airline
company, scrapped its 2011 growth plans on Monday and said it will
cut unprofitable routes because of rising fuel prices.

Rising fuel prices have forced Southwest Airlines to raise ticket prices, but the Dallas-based carrier is also focusing on efficiency measures to lower its fuel consumption, president and CEO Gary Kelly said Monday.

U.S. airlines collected $2.56 billion in baggage fees during the first nine months of the year. With industry experts expecting slower economic growth and rising oil prices in 2011, those ancillary fees aren't going anywhere.