Southwest Airlines announced the company flew 9.0 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in December 2013, 9.8% increase YoY

Dallas, TX, US, 2014-1-10 — /travelprnews.com/ — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 9.0 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in December 2013, a 9.8 percent increase from the 8.2 billion RPMs flown in December 2012.  Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 3.4 percent to 10.8 billion from the December 2012 level of 10.5 billion.  The December 2013 load factor was 82.8 percent, compared to 78.0 percent in December 2012.  For December 2013, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased in the 14 to 15 percent range compared to December 2012.

For the fourth quarter of 2013, the Company flew 25.7 billion RPMs, compared to 24.8 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2012, an increase of 3.3 percent.  Fourth quarter ASMs increased 2.2 percent to 31.9 billion from fourth quarter 2012 ASMs of 31.2 billion.  The fourth quarter load factor was 80.4 percent, compared to 79.6 percent for the same period in 2012.

For the full year of 2013, the Company flew 104.3 billion RPMs, compared to 102.9 billion RPMs flown in full year 2012, an increase of 1.4 percent.  Full year 2013 ASMs increased 1.7 percent to 130.3 billion from 128.1 billion for full year 2012.  The full year 2013 load factor was 80.1 percent, compared to 80.3 percent for full year 2012.

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
             
    DECEMBER
    2013   2012   CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried 9,307,789 8,610,383 8.1%
Enplaned passengers 11,487,623 10,645,104 7.9%
Revenue passenger miles (000) 8,975,588 8,174,930 9.8%
Available seat miles (000) 10,839,912 10,479,165 3.4%
Load factor 82.8% 78.0% 4.8 pts
Average length of haul 964 949 1.6%
Trips flown 107,157 108,789 (1.5)%
FOURTH QUARTER
    2013   2012   CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried 26,895,809 26,607,560 1.1%
Enplaned passengers 33,118,822 32,699,829 1.3%
Revenue passenger miles (000) 25,652,363 24,821,008 3.3%
Available seat miles (000) 31,886,318 31,193,395 2.2%
Load factor 80.4% 79.6% 0.8 pts
Average length of haul 954 933 2.3%
Trips flown 317,688 327,590 (3.0)%
TOTAL YEAR
    2013   2012   CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried 108,075,976 109,346,509 (1.2)%
Enplaned passengers 133,155,030 133,978,100 (0.6)%
Revenue passenger miles (000) 104,348,216 102,874,979 1.4%
Available seat miles (000) 130,344,072 128,137,110 1.7%
Load factor 80.1% 80.3% (0.2) pts
Average length of haul 966 941 2.7%
Trips flown 1,312,785 1,361,558 (3.6)%

SOURCE Southwest Airlines