The futures and options market is simply a means of transfering risk from those who wish to avoid it, to those who expect to make a profit by assuming it.
An airline selling tickets could easily bankrupt itself if it sold advance bookings based on fuel being cheap and there was a sudden surge in oil prices.
It's because of the futures market that you can lock in a airfare months in advance, surely preferable to not knowing the cost until the day you depart and possibly ending up spending far more than you expected.