Southwest Airlines Co. reported its March and first quarter 2018 preliminary traffic statistics yesterday and the company showed a modest increase in the number of passengers carried.
In total, the carrier flew 11.7 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in March 2018, an increase of 3.7 percent from the 11.3 billion RPMs flown in March 2017. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 2.4 percent to 13.8 billion in March 2018, compared with March 2017 ASMs of 13.4 billion. The March 2018 load factor of 85.1 percent was a March record, compared with 84.1 percent in March 2017.
Southwest Airlines Co.
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Preliminary Comparative Traffic Statistics
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MARCH
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2018
|
2017
|
Change
| |||
Revenue passengers carried
|
11,949,000
|
11,293,513
|
5.8%
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Enplaned passengers
|
14,317,210
|
13,591,122
|
5.3%
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Revenue passenger miles (000s)
|
11,718,901
|
11,300,137
|
3.7%
| ||
Available seat miles (000s)
|
13,763,684
|
13,436,867
|
2.4%
| ||
Load factor
|
85.1%
|
84.1%
|
1.0 pts.
| ||
Average length of haul
|
981
|
1,001
|
(2.0)%
| ||
Trips flown
|
117,748
|
116,196
|
1.3%
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FIRST QUARTER
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2018
|
2017
|
Change
| |||
Revenue passengers carried
|
31,332,137
|
29,538,790
|
6.1%
| ||
Enplaned passengers
|
37,543,100
|
35,578,350
|
5.5%
| ||
Revenue passenger miles (000s)
|
30,439,493
|
29,340,658
|
3.7%
| ||
Available seat miles (000s)
|
37,366,468
|
36,699,870
|
1.8%
| ||
Load factor
|
81.5%
|
79.9%
|
1.6 pts.
| ||
Average length of haul
|
972
|
993
|
(2.1)%
| ||
Trips flown
|
326,216
|
321,790
|
1.4%
|
SW-T
SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.