Southwest Airlines Reports May Traffic

DALLAS, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today reported May 2012 consolidated traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran. AirTran became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. (“the Company”) on May 2, 2011. For purposes of comparability, the Company is providing combined traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran
for periods prior to the acquisition date. See the accompanying tables for combined results.

The Company flew 9.0 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in May 2012, compared to 9.2 billion RPMs flown in May 2011, a decrease of 2.6 percent. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 0.9 percent to 11.0 billion from the May 2011 level of 11.1 billion. The load factor for May 2012 was 81.3 percent, compared to 82.7 percent in May 2011. For May 2012, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased in the five to six percent range as compared to May 2011.

For the first five months of 2012, the Company flew 41.3 billion RPMs, compared to 41.7 billion combined RPMs flown in the same period in 2011, a decrease of 1.1 percent. The year-to-date ASMs increased 0.1 percent to 52.5 billion from the combined level of 52.4 billion for the same period in 2011. The year-to-date load factor was 78.7 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 79.6 percent for the same period in 2011.

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

                          MAY
                          ---

                                2012                                   2011  CHANGE
                                ----                                   ----  ------

    Revenue
     passengers
     carried               9,592,865                              9,696,756             (1.1)%

    Enplaned
     passengers           11,719,335                             11,957,808             (2.0)%

    Revenue
     passenger
     miles (000)           8,974,366                              9,213,061             (2.6)%

    Available seat
     miles (000)          11,036,945                             11,142,018             (0.9)%

    Load factor                 81.3%                                  82.7%       (1.4) pts.

    Average length
     of haul                     936                                    950             (1.5)%

    Trips flown              118,404                                121,302             (2.4)%

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

                                2012                                   2011  CHANGE
                                ----                                   ----  ------

    Revenue
     passengers
     carried              44,449,719                             44,514,303             (0.1)%

    Enplaned
     passengers           54,120,118                             54,504,056             (0.7)%

    Revenue
     passenger
     miles (000)          41,269,715                             41,731,152             (1.1)%

    Available seat
     miles (000)          52,463,072                             52,417,193              0.1 %

    Load factor                 78.7%                                  79.6%       (0.9) pts.

    Average length
     of haul                     928                                    937             (1.0)%

    Trips flown              567,880                                573,475             (1.0)%

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.