I'm a bit rusty, but here is my thought process.
I'm not suggesting that the world of finance and airlines is great at the moment. But then I'm not convinced that we are getting the complete story either (from CX or the finance firms)
If profit was marginal, sometimes the accounting side of a business will prefer to claim a loss. Not 100% on HKG tax issues for a business. There could be many scenarios to justify this. Some have suggested that if the business has to answer a court case (maybe for cartel activity) then it can lead to smaller fine as a larger one would be perceived to be unnecessarily punitive.
Tax example, in the last released financial report, CX showed an expected Refund of tax that was already provisionally paid. This was due to the half year loss.
However a liability on the books to my understanding is exactly the same game as the fuel hedge. It is documented as a loss, but the actual cash didn't go out the door. If you prefer it's the same game that is happening with property trusts around the world. Their assets are being revalued in the downwards direction. This leads to a reduction in asset value and therefore the equity/ debt ratio will change.
It often happens in other countries financial systems. A company will accelerate its depreciation or writedown of assets in a year that suits them for the tax purposes of the country of operation. Other examples include taking a charge on the books for an expected decision on a fine. The 468? Million that was charged to the books for the US fine is exactly that. The company hasn't (as far as I'm aware) actually paid the money. They have merely set aside (provisioned) the money on the books to cover the expected outcome.
That's just my understanding. More than happy for the full time professional/ current accountants to prove me wrong.