Southwest Airlines traffic slips

Oct 03, 2008 (The Dallas Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- LUV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Southwest Airlines Co. said Thursday it filled 63.4 percent of its seats in September, its lowest load factor since 2004 and the fourth straight month that loads trailed the same month in 2007.

The loads were 4.5 percentage points behind the 67.9 percent load factors that the Dallas-based carrier reported in September 2007. The airline said its traffic declined 5.9 percent from a year ago on an increase in capacity of just under 1 percent.

Despite the falling traffic, Southwest chairman and chief executive Gary Kelly said the airline is willing to trade higher fares for fewer passengers and said the airline is coming out ahead.

"It takes a lot of courage to watch those bookings fall and not resort to our usual technique of 'Let's have a sale, let's have a sale, let's get that volume coming in.' That won't work," Mr. Kelly told reporters Wednesday.

"We've got to get our revenues per departure up," he said.

Mr. Kelly said that passengers this fall are booking their reservations closer to their actual travel date than they did a year ago.

"Because we're not offering very aggressive fare sales, customers are waiting longer to book," he said. "But on balance, our fares are higher. Our revenues are growing at a very healthy rate."

Results from other airlines show the result of the industry's efforts to trim capacity for the latter half of 2008. The results were also affected by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which disrupted traffic from Texas to Florida along the Gulf Coast.

AirTran Airways said its traffic dropped 2 percent on a 9.7 percent decline in capacity. Unlike Southwest, however, its airplanes were fuller, up 5.9 points to 74.4 percent.

Continental Airlines Inc., whose Houston hub was disrupted by Hurricane Ike, said Wednesday its monthly traffic dropped 10.9 percent for on an 8.8 percent decline in capacity. Its load factors dropped 1.8 points to 77.4 percent.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines Inc. and other major carriers have not yet reported their September results.

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