DALLAS, Aug. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the "Company") today reported its July and year-to-date preliminary traffic statistics. The Company flew 11.5 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in July 2015, an 8.2 percent increase from the 10.6 billion RPMs flown in July 2014. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 7.0 percent to 13.1 billion in July 2015, compared with the July 2014 level of 12.3 billion. The July 2015 load factor was an all-time record 87.7 percent, compared with 86.7 percent in July 2014. Based on these results and current trends, the Company estimates its third quarter 2015 operating revenue per ASM (RASM) will decrease approximately 1.0 percent, compared with third quarter 2014.

For the first seven months of 2015, the Company flew 68.2 billion RPMs, compared with 63.4 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2014, an increase of 7.6 percent. Year-to-date ASMs increased 6.6 percent to a level of 81.9 billion, compared with the 76.8 billion for the same period in 2014. The year-to-date load factor was 83.3 percent, compared with 82.5 percent for the same period in 2014.

This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest Airlines Co., is available online at Southwest.com.



                          Southwest Airlines Co.

                Preliminary Comparative Traffic Statistics


                                   JULY
                                   ----

                      2015                         2014                 Change
                      ----                         ----                 ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     carried    11,042,296                                 10,311,076                 7.1%

     Enplaned
     passengers 13,628,493                                 12,808,749                 6.4%

     Revenue
     passenger
     miles
     (000s)     11,503,195                                 10,632,595                 8.2%

     Available
     seat
     miles
     (000s)     13,120,858                                 12,259,044                 7.0%

     Load
     factor          87.7%                                     86.7%           1.0 pts.

     Average
     length
     of
     haul            1,042                                      1,031                 1.1%

     Trips
     flown         115,017                                    113,099                 1.7%


                           YEAR-TO-DATE
                           ------------

                      2015                         2014               Change
                      ----                         ----               ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     carried    68,286,034                                 64,521,999                 5.8%

     Enplaned
     passengers 83,397,735                                 79,255,470                 5.2%

     Revenue
     passenger
     miles
     (000s)     68,222,442                                 63,377,909                 7.6%

     Available
     seat
     miles
     (000s)     81,894,353                                 76,829,838                 6.6%

     Load
     factor          83.3%                                     82.5%           0.8 pts.

     Average
     length
     of
     haul              999                                        982                 1.7%

     Trips
     flown         737,896                                    740,080               (0.3)%

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SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.