Southwest Airlines Sept load factor 56.8 pct vs 53.4 yr-earlier
Oct 2, 2002, 7:37 am
#1
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Southwest Airlines Sept load factor 56.8 pct vs 53.4 yr-earlier
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Southwest Airlines Co reported a 56.8 pct load factor in September, up from 53.4 pct a year earlier.
The carrier said it flew 3.3 bln revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in September, up 25.8 pct from the 2.6 bln RPMs flown a year earlier.
The company noted that its traffic statistics for September 2001 were significantly impacted by the temporary cancellation of flight operations and subsequent decline in air traffic demand resulting from last year's terrorist attacks.
Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 18.4 pct to 5.7 bln from the September 2001 level of 4.8 bln, it said.</font>
The carrier said it flew 3.3 bln revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in September, up 25.8 pct from the 2.6 bln RPMs flown a year earlier.
The company noted that its traffic statistics for September 2001 were significantly impacted by the temporary cancellation of flight operations and subsequent decline in air traffic demand resulting from last year's terrorist attacks.
Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 18.4 pct to 5.7 bln from the September 2001 level of 4.8 bln, it said.</font>
Oct 2, 2002, 11:22 am
#2
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Maybe I'm naive, but I assumed Southwest would have a much, much higher load factor.
If I recall correctly, I just saw a post on the AA board citing the AA load factor in the 70-80% range.
Then again:
1) Maybe I don't know what "load factor" is (like the character from Princess Bride, maybe the term does not mean what I think it means)
2) Maybe Southwest has always been profitable with load factors in the 50s, which surprises me.
If I recall correctly, I just saw a post on the AA board citing the AA load factor in the 70-80% range.
Then again:
1) Maybe I don't know what "load factor" is (like the character from Princess Bride, maybe the term does not mean what I think it means)
2) Maybe Southwest has always been profitable with load factors in the 50s, which surprises me.
Oct 2, 2002, 11:29 am
#3
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Southwest never cut their schedule, as did the other carriers. As a result, the overall decrease in traffic shows up more dramatically as a decrease in load factor for Southwest than for the other carriers.
In fact, Southwest has actually added some flights in the past 6 months, so their capacity is greater than it was a year ago.
In fact, Southwest has actually added some flights in the past 6 months, so their capacity is greater than it was a year ago.
Oct 2, 2002, 12:53 pm
#4
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Summer load factors are quite a bit higher. Fall load factors are the lowest of the year, I think.
Oct 2, 2002, 1:21 pm
#5
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56.8 percent load factor is ridiculously low and probably unsustainable, even for Southwest.
Oct 2, 2002, 1:25 pm
#6
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BTW, their load factor for the first eight months of the year before September was 68.1%, so that is a very significant drop-off.
Oct 2, 2002, 8:23 pm
#7
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I haven't done these flights recently, but last year I had several late night (10:00 PM) flights from LAS-PHX on Southwest that had maybe half a dozen people on them, including pilots & other staff going home. I assume they have both cargo to justify the expense, and the need to move airliners to meet their schedules.
That said, nearly every flight I've had with them this year has been full to overflowing.
JP
That said, nearly every flight I've had with them this year has been full to overflowing.
JP