Southwest Airlines Reports May Traffic

DALLAS, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today reported May 2011 traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways. AirTran Airways 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 Airways for periods prior to the acquisition date. See the accompanying tables for combined and individual results.

The Company flew 9.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in May 2011, compared to 8.3 billion combined RPMs flown in May 2010, an increase of 10.6 percent. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 4.2 percent to 11.1 billion from the May 2010 combined level of 10.7 billion. The load factor for the month was 82.7 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 77.9 percent in May 2010.

For May 2011, Southwest Airlines' passenger revenue per ASM (excluding AirTran Airways) is estimated to have increased in the 11 to 12 percent range as compared to May 2010.

For the first five months of 2011, the Company flew 41.7 billion combined RPMs, compared to 38.0 billion combined RPMs flown for the same period in 2010, an increase of 9.9 percent. The combined year-to-date ASMs increased 6.5 percent to 52.4 billion, compared to the combined level of 49.2 billion for the same period in 2010. The combined year-to-date load factor was 79.6 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 77.2 percent for the same period in 2010.

This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest Airlines Co., is available online at southwest.com.


            SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

            PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE COMBINED TRAFFIC STATISTICS



            MAY                               YEAR-TO-DATE



            2011        2010        CHANGE    2011        2010        CHANGE





Revenue
passengers
carried     9,696,756   9,294,176   4.3 %     44,514,303  42,734,649  4.2 %



Enplaned
passengers  11,957,808  11,213,615  6.6 %     54,504,056  51,415,058  6.0 %



Revenue
passenger
miles
(000)       9,213,061   8,331,545   10.6 %    41,731,152  37,987,267  9.9 %



Available
seat miles
(000)       11,142,018  10,694,094  4.2 %     52,417,193  49,197,703  6.5 %



Load                                4.8
factor      82.7%       77.9%       pts.      79.6%       77.2%       2.4 pts.



Average
length of
haul        950         896         6.0 %     937         889         5.4 %



Trips
flown       121,302     118,612     2.3 %     573,475     555,145     3.3 %


             SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

             PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS



             MAY                              YEAR-TO-DATE



             2011       2010       CHANGE     2011        2010        CHANGE





Revenue
passengers
carried      7,919,682  7,638,203  3.7 %      36,559,416  35,110,111  4.1 %



Enplaned
passengers   9,706,504  9,080,567  6.9 %      44,529,300  41,686,523  6.8 %



Revenue
passenger
miles (000)  7,376,229  6,662,712  10.7 %     33,612,362  30,301,847  10.9 %



Available
seat miles
(000)        8,967,013  8,629,255  3.9 %      42,302,724  39,464,189  7.2 %



Load factor  82.3%      77.2%      5.1 pts.   79.5%       76.8%       2.7 pts.



Average
length of
haul         931        872        6.8 %      919         863         6.5 %



Trips flown  99,288     96,750     2.6 %      469,794     452,361     3.9 %


             AIRTRAN AIRWAYS

             PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS*



             MAY                              YEAR-TO-DATE



             2011       2010       CHANGE     2011        2010       CHANGE





Revenue
passengers
carried      1,777,074  1,655,973  7.3 %      7,954,887   7,624,538  4.3 %



Enplaned
passengers   2,251,304  2,133,048  5.5 %      9,974,756   9,728,535  2.5 %



Revenue
passenger
miles (000)  1,836,832  1,668,833  10.1 %     8,118,789   7,685,420  5.6 %



Available
seat miles
(000)        2,175,004  2,064,839  5.3 %      10,114,469  9,733,514  3.9 %



Load factor  84.5%      80.8%      3.7 pts.   80.3%       79.0%      1.3 pts.



Average
length of
haul         1,034      1,008      2.6 %      1,021       1,008      1.3 %



Trips flown  22,014     21,862     0.7 %      103,681     102,784    0.9 %



*AirTran Airways' traffic statistics have been adjusted to conform to
Southwest Airlines' presentation.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

Released June 7, 2011