Southwest Air Sept Traffic Up; Follows Gains In July, Aug
DALLAS -(Dow Jones)- Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said September traffic rose 18.9% to 4.7 billion revenue passenger miles from 4 billion a year earlier, as available seat miles increased 11.5%.
A revenue passenger mile is one paying passenger flown one mile.
Load factor, or percentage of seats filled, was 67.4% for the month, up from 63.2% a year earlier, the carrier said in a press release Tuesday.
The September traffic results follow gains in July and August; for the full third quarter, revenue passenger miles rose 15.5%.
For the nine months of the year to date, Southwest said it flew 45.1 billion revenue passenger miles, up 11.9% from 40.3 billion a year earlier.
Load factor for the year to date was 71.1%, unchanged from a year earlier.
A jump in the price of jet fuel has forced airlines to cut flight schedules, raise ticket prices, and ask for federal tax relief. Fuel hedging has helped Southwest post annual profits through tough times for the industry.
DALLAS -(Dow Jones)- Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said September traffic rose 18.9% to 4.7 billion revenue passenger miles from 4 billion a year earlier, as available seat miles increased 11.5%.
A revenue passenger mile is one paying passenger flown one mile.
Load factor, or percentage of seats filled, was 67.4% for the month, up from 63.2% a year earlier, the carrier said in a press release Tuesday.
The September traffic results follow gains in July and August; for the full third quarter, revenue passenger miles rose 15.5%.
For the nine months of the year to date, Southwest said it flew 45.1 billion revenue passenger miles, up 11.9% from 40.3 billion a year earlier.
Load factor for the year to date was 71.1%, unchanged from a year earlier.
A jump in the price of jet fuel has forced airlines to cut flight schedules, raise ticket prices, and ask for federal tax relief. Fuel hedging has helped Southwest post annual profits through tough times for the industry.