Southwest Airlines July revenue up 4-to-5 percent
Southwest Airlines says July passenger revenue rose 4-to-5 percent; traffic declines a bit
DALLAS (AP) -- Southwest Airlines Co. said on Wednesday that a key measure of revenue rose as much as 5 percent in July, even though its flights weren't quite as full as a year ago.
Southwest estimated that its passenger revenue for each seat carried one mile was up 4 percent to 5 percent for the month.
Traffic fell 0.7 percent. Southwest boosted its flying capacity by 0.6 percent by adding longer flights. Because it added capacity as traffic fell, occupancy on its planes fell 1.1 percentage points, to 83.5 percent.
The overall number of flights declined 4.7 percent, and the number of people Southwest carried fell 3.2 percent for the month.
For the first seven months of the year, traffic has risen 1.2 percent. Flying capacity is up 1.6 percent. Occupancy has fallen 0.4 percentage points, to 80.1 percent.
Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. slipped a penny to $13.83, as the broader markets declined in morning trading.
