The biggest U.S. airlines missed their chance to lock in the cheapest energy costs in more than 12 years after jet fuel surged as much as 80 percent since January. The fuel on the U.S. Gulf Coast was trading at $1.32 a gallon Thursday, up from less than 80 cents on January 20, the lowest intraday level since November 2003. The gain came as oil prices rebounded about 70 percent over the same period. Major jet fuel consumers — including Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. — didn’t lock in prices at those January lows after the airline industry lost billions on hedging as crude plunged to about $26 a barrel earlier this year from more than $100 in 2014. The carriers also were discouraged by the rising cost of the hedges themselves. “To the extent that they lost money when oil prices […]