Southwest Airlines Load Factor Declines in September

Southwest Airlines reported a decline in load factor for the month of September due to lower traffic. Capacity, however, rose marginally from the prior-year month. Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines' September load factor, or occupancy, decreased 4.5 points to 63.4% compared to 67.9% in the same month a year ago.

Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, for the month declined 5.9% to 5.31 billion from 5.64 billion the prior-year month. Capacity, measured in available seat miles, rose 0.8% to 8.38 billion from 8.31 billion a year ago.

For the third quarter, traffic decreased 4.4%, while capacity increased 2.2% from the prior-year quarter. Quarterly load factor was 71.6% compared to 76.6% recorded in the same quarter last year.

For the year-to-date period, traffic increased 2.6% and capacity rose 4.6% from the prior-year period. Load factor, however, declined 1.4 points to 72.3% from 73.7% reported in the prior-year period.

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