DALLAS, June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest
Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 10.2
billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in May 2015, an 8.5 percent increase from the 9.4
billion RPMs flown in May 2014. Available seat miles (ASMs)
increased 7.6 percent to 12.1 billion in May
2015, compared with the May
2014 level of 11.2 billion. The May 2015 load factor was a record 84.4 percent,
compared with 83.7 percent in May 2014. For May 2015, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is
estimated to have decreased approximately 6.0 percent, compared
with May 2014.
Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the
Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Solid
traffic and revenue trends continued in May, and we remain on track
to produce record second quarter profits, excluding special
items. We continue to be pleased with the performance of our
markets under development, which represents approximately twenty
percent of our network. Dallas Love
Field, in particular, continues to exceed our expectations,
including the additional markets added in April 2015.
Considering recent weakness in close-in revenue passenger yields,
an estimated two to three point impact from our year-over-year
growth in stage length and seat gauge, and difficult comparisons to
last year's strong second quarter performance, we currently
estimate our second quarter 2015 PRASM will decline in the four to
five percent range, compared with second quarter 2014. We
have taken steps this week to begin pulling down our second half
2015 ASMs to manage our 2015 capacity growth, year-over-year, to
approximately seven percent. With weaker than expected
economic growth, we continue to evaluate our 2016 capacity plans
with a current intent to cap our ASM growth to approximately six
percent, year-over-year."
For the first five months of 2015, the Company
flew 46.0 billion RPMs, compared with 42.7 billion RPMs
flown for the same period in 2014,
an increase of 7.7 percent. Year-to-date ASMs
increased 6.5 percent to a level of 56.3 billion, compared with the
52.9 billion for the same period in 2014. The year-to-date
load factor was 81.6 percent, compared with 80.7 percent
for the same period in 2014.
This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest
Airlines Co., is available online at Southwest.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Specific forward-looking statements include, without
limitation, statements related to (i) the Company's financial
outlook and projected results of operations; and (ii) the Company's
growth plans and expectations, including the Company's capacity
plans and factors that may impact the Company's capacity
plans. These statements involve risks, uncertainties,
assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and
that could cause actual results to vary materially from those
expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among
others, (i) changes in demand for the Company's services and other
changes in consumer behavior; (ii) the impact of economic
conditions, fuel prices, actions of competitors (including without
limitation pricing, scheduling, and capacity decisions and
consolidation and alliance activities), and other factors beyond
the Company's control, on the Company's business decisions, plans,
and strategies; (iii) changes in fuel prices; (iv) the Company's
ability to timely and effectively implement, transition, and
maintain the necessary information technology systems and
infrastructure to support its operations and initiatives; (v) the
impact of governmental regulations and other actions related to the
Company's operations; and (vi) other factors, as described in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk
Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2014.
Southwest Airlines
Co.
|
Preliminary
Comparative Traffic Statistics
|
|
MAY
|
|
2015
|
|
2014
|
|
Change
|
Revenue passengers
carried
|
10,294,774
|
|
|
9,686,239
|
|
|
6.3%
|
Enplaned
passengers
|
12,565,830
|
|
|
11,933,623
|
|
|
5.3%
|
Revenue passenger
miles (000s)
|
10,202,485
|
|
|
9,404,596
|
|
|
8.5%
|
Available seat miles
(000s)
|
12,088,512
|
|
|
11,235,662
|
|
|
7.6%
|
Load
factor
|
84.4%
|
|
|
83.7%
|
|
|
0.7 pts.
|
Average length of
haul
|
991
|
|
|
971
|
|
|
2.1%
|
Trips
flown
|
108,693
|
|
|
109,257
|
|
|
(0.5)%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
YEAR-TO-DATE
|
|
2015
|
|
2014
|
|
Change
|
Revenue passengers
carried
|
46,723,734
|
|
|
44,142,298
|
|
|
5.8%
|
Enplaned
passengers
|
56,860,740
|
|
|
54,088,928
|
|
|
5.1%
|
Revenue passenger
miles (000s)
|
45,961,807
|
|
|
42,678,377
|
|
|
7.7%
|
Available seat miles
(000s)
|
56,297,657
|
|
|
52,877,898
|
|
|
6.5%
|
Load
factor
|
81.6%
|
|
|
80.7%
|
|
|
0.9 pts.
|
Average length of
haul
|
984
|
|
|
967
|
|
|
1.8%
|
Trips
flown
|
512,841
|
|
|
517,223
|
|
|
(0.8)%
|
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/southwest-airlines-reports-may-traffic-300095983.html
SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.