Southwest Airlines Reports April Traffic

Southwest Airlines flew 11.1 million revenue passengers in April, a 7.3 percent increase on last year.

RPM (revenue passenger miles) traffic stood at 11.23 billion, up from 10.36 billion in April 2016 - an 8.4 percent increase. ASM capacity rose at a slightly smaller rate, 7.6 percent, to 13.37 billion, with a resulting load factor of 84.0 percent, a 0.6 percentage point increase.

Southwest, the second largest US airline by passengers carried, expects its second quarter 2017 operating revenue per ASM (RASM) to increase in the one to two percent range, compared with 2Q16.