Southwest Airlines Reports February Traffic

DALLAS, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today reported February 2012 combined traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran.  AirTran became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. ("the Company") on May 2, 2011.  For purposes of comparability, the Company is providing combined traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran for periods prior to the acquisition date.  See the accompanying tables for combined results.

The Company flew 7.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in February 2012, compared to 7.0 billion combined RPMs flown in February 2011, an increase of 3.9 percent.  Available seat mile (ASMs) increased 6.2 percent to 9.6 billion from the February 2011 combined level of 9.1 billion.  The load factor for February 2012 was 75.2 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 76.9 percent in February 2011.  For February 2012, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased approximately four percent as compared to February 2011's combined PRASM.

For the first two months of 2012, the Company flew 14.6 billion RPMs, which was comparable to the combined RPMs flown in the same period in 2011.  The year-to-date ASMs increased 2.5 percent to 19.6 billion from the combined level of 19.1 billion for the same period in 2011.  The year-to-date load factor was 74.8 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 76.3 percent for the same period in 2011. 

This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest Airlines Co., is available online at southwest.com. 

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS
		FEBRUARY
		2012		2011		CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		7,979,069		7,652,082		4.3 %
Enplaned passengers		9,646,626		9,268,646		4.1 %
Revenue passenger miles (000)		7,236,190		6,964,801		3.9 %
Available seat miles (000)		9,616,404		9,056,585		6.2 %
Load factor		75.2%		76.9%		(1.7) pts.
Average length of haul		907		910		(0.3)%
Trips flown		105,203		100,652		4.5 %
		YEAR-TO-DATE
		2012		2011		CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		15,968,873		15,857,769		0.7 %
Enplaned passengers		19,421,269		19,275,694		0.8 %
Revenue passenger miles (000)		14,616,182		14,551,687		0.4 %
Available seat miles (000)		19,552,438		19,070,197		2.5 %
Load factor		74.8%		76.3%		(1.5) pts.
Average length of haul		915		918		(0.3)%
Trips flown		215,207		211,793		1.6 %

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

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