Southwest managed to avoid the latest oil price surge

JetBlue's profits for July to September were $2.7m (�1.5m), down from $8.1m in the same period last year.

But fellow budget carrier Southwest's profit nearly doubled, thanks to its system of securing supplies of jet fuel at low prices months in advance.

Fuel hedging boosted Southwest's quarterly profit from $119m to $227m.

Southwest says its fuel supplies for the fourth quarter of 2005 are 85% hedged at an average of $26 a barrel.

Airlines in general have been suffering from high fuel costs since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed into US oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Soaring fuel prices were the last straw in a series of financial woes that drove Delta and Northwest to seek bankruptcy protection last month, joining United and US Airways which were already operating under Chapter 11.