Sorry Tocamak the thrust of my argument stands. It's not a device for making profit for the company. Granted OPEC have, themselves been "trading" in an unusual environment too but I doubt you could argue that they don't throttle the supply in order to best maximise the price. Market or otherwise, we hedge fuel (as do others) in order to smooth out the spikes, wherever they might arise.
However, overall BA are up over the years on hedging. Indeed you note yourself that "in retrospect" the prices were unsustainable. That's hedging for you. As in your bets. Had we the gift of foresight we'd buy fuel on spot prices in bulk whenever the price bottomed.
MrB