Oil prices have risen 15% since the beginning of 2018. Last time oil spiked dramatically, airline stocks got crushed. Morgan Stanley points out three reasons why rising oil prices could actually be good for the airlines this time around. Back when oil prices skyrocketed past $140 in 2008, airline stocks got decimated as the unplanned costs ate into their bottom lines. The fuel cost burden eventually got so bad that it even forced American Airlines' former parent company, AMR, into bankruptcy.