Already beleaguered by soaring fuel costs, the U.S. airline industry is getting more bad news on that front as oil hit another record high in morning trading. The cost of oil neared $140 barrel, rising “to an intraday trading record of $139.89 a barrel” before it “retreated to trade near $138 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,” Reuters reports. Reuters called it “a dramatic surge (that) analysts attributed to the weakening dollar.”

Despite the downbeat news, at least one overseas carrier appears undaunted. The CEO at Malaysia-based discounter AirAsia is quoted as saying this morning that his carrier can turn a profit even if oil hits $200 a barrel. “We are comfortable even with oil at $200 (a barrel). There is a silver lining. We have taken a very different approach in that we will market ourselves out of this problem,” AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes says. “We think that just putting your head in the sand and crying about oil and cutting routes is not the solution. … We are going to sell more things, more duty free (products). We will sell washing machines if we have to. There are many things we haven’t done. In a crisis like this, you become more innovative.”

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