Southwest Airlines Co. announced today that the Company flew 6.5 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in April 2009, a 4.1 percent increase from the 6.3 billion RPMs flown in April 2008. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 1.9 percent to 8.5 billion from the April 2008 level of 8.6 billion. The load factor for the month was 77.0 percent, compared to 72.6 percent for the same period last year. April 2009 passenger revenues per ASM are estimated to be in line with last year, as expected.
However, current revenue and booking trends continue to be adversely impacted by the weak economic environment and now also by concerns over the recent H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak. Therefore, the Company currently expects the year-over-year decline in second quarter 2009 passenger revenues per ASM to exceed first quarter 2009’s decline of 2.8 percent.
For the four months ended April 30, 2009, Southwest flew 23.4 billion RPMs, compared to the 23.9 billion RPMs recorded for the same period in 2008, a decrease of 1.9 percent. Available seat miles decreased 3.5 percent to 32.6 billion from the 2008 level of 33.8 billion. The year-to-date load factor was 71.7 percent, compared to 70.5 percent for the same period last year. This release, as well as past news releases on Southwest, are available online at southwest.com.
