Southwest Airlines Reports September Traffic, Up 6.4% RPM YoY

Southwest Airlines Co. LUV today reported September 2011 combined traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran.  AirTran became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. 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 7.9 billion revenue passenger miles in September 2011, compared to 7.5 billion combined RPMs flown in September 2010, an increase of 6.4 percent.  Available seat miles increased 3.2 percent to 10.2 billion from the September 2010 combined level of 9.9 billion.  The load factor for September 2011 was 77.8 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 75.5 percent in September 2010.  For September 2011, passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased approximately 12 percent as compared to September 2010's combined PRASM.