Southwest Airlines, arguably the country's smartest air-transport company, guess right on fuel prices, kept its fares relatively stable and declined to impose the rigorous extra fees (notably for checked baggage) that other airlines imposed. So its September figures reveal the recession that in which the country found itself, even before the government was forced to bail out failed financial institutions.
Southwest reported that it flew 5.3 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in September 2008, a walloping 5.9 percent decrease from the 5.6 billion RPMs flown in September 2007. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 0.8 percent to 8.4 billion from the September 2007 level of
8.3 billion. The combination of fewer miles flown and more available seat miles made for a load factor of 63.4 percent, down from 67.9 percent in 2007.
While September was down, the numbers for the nine months that ended on September 30, 2008, were up. Between January and September, Southwest flew 56.2 billion RPMs, up from the 54.8 billion RPMs for the same period in 2007 (an increase of 2.6 percent). Available seat miles were also up, increasing 4.6 percent from 74.4 billion to 77.8 billion. The year-to-date load factor declined slightly to 72.3 percent from 73.7 percent during the same period last year.
Normally, I don't include financial numbers here, but when such a savvy airline experiences such a decline, it is an eloquent testimonial to the countries financial problems in general and the woes of the travel industry as well.
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