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Airlines Say Passenger Traffic Up: Southwest Reports an 8.7 Percent Increase Last Month From March 2005.

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

By D.R. Stewart, Tulsa World, Okla.

Apr. 5--Southwest Airlines reported high-single-digit increases in passenger traffic in March, while American Airlines' traffic rose slightly and American Eagle posted double-digit increases compared with March 2005, company officials said Tuesday.

At Southwest, the nation's leading discount carrier and the airline that operates the most flights at Tulsa International Airport, 8.34 million passengers boarded flights last month, an 8.7 percent increase from March 2005.

Southwest flew 5.83 billion revenue passenger miles last month, an 11.4 percent increase from the same month last year, on a capacity increase of 8.7 percent. A revenue passenger mile is flying one paying passenger one mile.

Southwest's load factor -- the percentage of seats filled -- in March was 75.5 percent, up 1.8 points from March 2005.

For the first quarter, Southwest boarded 22.01 million passengers, an 11.3 percent increase over the first three months of 2005.

Southwest flew 15.28 billion revenue passenger miles in the first quarter, a 15.4 percent increase, on a capacity increase of 9.1 percent.

Southwest's load factor in the first quarter was 69.2 percent, 3.8 points above its first quarter 2005 load factor.

American Airlines, the world's largest air carrier, flew 12.1 billion revenue passenger miles in March, a 0.2 percent increase over the same month last year, on a capacity decrease of 0.9 percent.

Domestically, American flew 8.05 billion revenue passenger miles last month, down 0.8 percent, on a capacity decrease of 3.2 percent. Internationally, American flew 4.05 billion revenue passenger miles in March, a 2.5 percent increase from March 2005, on a capacity increase of 3.6 percent.

American's load factor last month was 81.1 percent, 0.9 points higher than the same month last year. Domestically, the load factor in March was 83.3 percent, 2 points higher than March 2005. Internationally, the load factor was 77.1 percent, or 0.9 points lower.

American boarded 8.7 million passengers last month, a 0.5 percent increase from March 2005.

For the first three months, American flew 32.99 billion revenue passenger miles, a 2.3 percent increase compared with last year's first quarter, with the same capacity as 2005's first quarter.

Domestically, American flew 21.88 billion revenue passenger miles in the first quarter, a 1.5 percent increase, on a capacity decrease of 2.2 percent. Internationally, American flew 11.1 billion revenue passenger miles, a 4 percent increase, on a capacity increase of 4.2 percent.

American's load factor in the first quarter was 77.2 percent, 1.8 points above the same period last year. Domestically, American's load factor was 79.1 percent, or 2.9 points higher. Internationally, American's load factor was 73.6 percent, 0.2 points below last year's first quarter.

American boarded 23.6 million passengers in the first three months, a 2.5 percent increase over the same period last year.

American Eagle, American's regional airline partner, flew 749.4 million revenue passenger miles in March, a 15.7 percent increase from March 2005, on a capacity increase of 9 percent.

American Eagle boarded 1.78 million passengers in March, a 4.1 percent increase compared with March 2005.

American Eagle's load factor in March was 74.1 percent, 4.3 points higher than the same month last year.

For the first quarter, American Eagle flew 2.05 billion revenue passenger miles, up 21.2 percent from 2005's first quarter, on a capacity increase of 12.9 percent.

American Eagle boarded 4.9 million passengers in the first three months, an 8.4 percent increase. Its load factor in the first quarter was 70.1 percent, up 4.8 points.

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D.R. Stewart 581-8451 don.stewart@tulsaworld.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.

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Source: Tulsa World

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