Southwest Airlines Co. today reported its March and first quarter 2018 preliminary traffic statistics.
The Company flew 11.7 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in March 2018, an increase of 3.7 percent from the 11.3 billion RPMs flown in March 2017. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 2.4 percent to 13.8 billion in March 2018, compared with March 2017 ASMs of 13.4 billion. The March 2018 load factor of 85.1 percent was a March record, compared with 84.1 percent in March 2017.
Preliminary Comparative Traffic Statistics
MARCH
2018 2017 Change
Revenue passengers carried 11,949,000 11,293,513 5.8%
Enplaned passengers 14,317,210 13,591,122 5.3%
Revenue passenger miles (000s) 11,718,901 11,300,137 3.7%
Available seat miles (000s) 13,763,684 13,436,867 2.4%
Load factor 85.1% 84.1% 1.0 pts.
Average length of haul 981 1,001 (2.0)%
Trips flown 117,748 116,196 1.3%
FIRST QUARTER
2018 2017 Change
Revenue passengers carried 31,332,137 29,538,790 6.1%
Enplaned passengers 37,543,100 35,578,350 5.5%
Revenue passenger miles (000s) 30,439,493 29,340,658 3.7%
Available seat miles (000s) 37,366,468 36,699,870 1.8%
Load factor 81.5% 79.9% 1.6 pts.
Average length of haul 972 993 (2.1)%
Trips flown 326,216 321,790 1.4%
