Southwest Unit Revenue Jumps
DALLAS (
) --
Southwest
(LUV) - Get Southwest Airlines Co. Report
said March revenue per available seat mile rose 22%.
The increase in the key metric is the highest reported so far by a major carrier and is another sign of an improving aviation economy as carriers enter the second quarter, which is typically profitable. Earlier,
Continental
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reported a March RASM increase of 15%, while
US Airways
(LCC)
reported an 18% gain, compared with the same month a year earlier.
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Southwest said its revenue per available seat mile rose 0.4, even as capacity fell by 4.2 %, a positive sign that indicates higher revenue per seat mile even as the number of available seat miles decreases. The load factor was 81%, compared with 77.3% a year earlier. During the first quarter, RPMs rose 1.6%, while ASMs fell 6.4%.
-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.
