Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said March traffic rose 9.8% as a
key revenue metric increased in line with previous months.
Southwest, the largest domestic U.S. airline by passenger
numbers, recently revamped its frequent-flyer program to attract
high-value business travelers, started a new reservation system and
is planning a $1.4 billion takeover of discount carrier AirTran
Holdings Inc. (AAI) The moves are part of a planned transition from
a discount carrier to a more diversified airline business.
The discount carrier estimated that passenger revenue per
available seat mile rose 8% to 9% in March, a level consistent with
previous months.
Its capacity rose 8.9% and load factor--the percentage of
available seats filled--edged up to 81.6% from 81%.
Earlier this week, AirTran said its traffic in March increased
5.5%, the second straight month that the rate of growth has
accelerated. A 6.8% increase in capacity pushed load factor, a
measure of plane occupancy, down a percentage point to 82.8%.
Shares, which were inactive premarket, closed Wednesday at
$12.15 and have fallen 6.4% so far this year.
-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909;
Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com