And they positioning themselves for fuel savings/availability, or just
playing the markets with extra cash they have laying around?

They are hedging. They spent a few dollars to buy assets that pay off
if prices go up. Therefore, if prices drop, they will be happy at the
pump. If prices go up they will be happy receiving money from the hedge
product (usually crude futures). If you look at the cost of fuel for an
airliner on a graph, hedging dampens the extremes. In the stock market
analysts look at the variability of a company's returns. Having less
variability is translated into less risk. At less risk, advisors are
willing to spend more for the security (Southwest stock in this case).

-Robert