DALLAS, April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 10.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in March 2015, a 6.7 percent increase from the 9.6 billion RPMs flown in March 2014. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 4.4 percent to 12.1 billion from the March 2014 level of 11.6 billion. The March 2015 load factor was 84.5 percent, compared with 82.7 percent in March 2014. For March 2015, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased approximately 1.0 percent, compared with March 2014.

For the first quarter of 2015, the Company flew 25.9 billion RPMs, compared with 24.2 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2014, an increase of 7.1 percent. First quarter 2015 ASMs increased 6.0 percent to 32.3 billion from first quarter 2014 ASMs of 30.5 billion. The first quarter 2015 load factor was 80.1 percent, compared with 79.3 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


                                   MARCH
                                   -----

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

     Revenue
     passengers
     carried                  10,363,811                    9,806,609             5.7%

     Enplaned
     passengers               12,526,974                   12,000,553             4.4%

     Revenue
     passenger
     miles
     (000s)                   10,240,507                    9,596,470             6.7%

     Available
     seat
     miles
     (000s)                   12,113,609                   11,604,778             4.4%

    Load
     factor                        84.5%                       82.7%  1.8 pts.

     Average
     length
     of
     haul                            988                          979             0.9%

    Trips
     flown                       108,763                      111,138           (2.1)%



                            FIRST QUARTER
                            -------------

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

     Revenue
     passengers
     carried                  26,442,996                   25,055,809             5.5%

     Enplaned
     passengers               32,098,958                   30,656,581             4.7%

     Revenue
     passenger
     miles
     (000s)                   25,860,866                   24,155,317             7.1%

     Available
     seat
     miles
     (000s)                   32,297,465                   30,474,582             6.0%

    Load
     factor                        80.1%                       79.3%  0.8 pts.

     Average
     length
     of
     haul                            978                          964             1.5%

    Trips
     flown                       296,570                      299,638           (1.0)%

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SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.