Southwest Airlines Reports December Traffic (0.3%)

Southwest Airlines Co. LUV today reported December 2011 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 8.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in December 2011, which was comparable to the combined RPMs flown in December 2010. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 1.8 percent to 10.5 billion from the December 2010 combined level of 10.3 billion. The load factor for December 2011 was 78.4 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 80.1 percent in December 2010. For December 2011, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased in the seven to eight percent range as compared to December 2010's combined PRASM.