On March 6, US-based Southwest Airlines Co. announced that the Company flew 4.8 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in February 2007, a 3.3 percent increase from the 4.7 billion RPMs flown in February 2006. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 6.0 percent to 7.3 billion from the February 2006 level of 6.8 billion. The load factor for the month was 66.8 percent, compared to 68.5 percent for the same period last year.

Gary C. Kelly, CEO, stated: "Our February 2007 load factor fell 1.7 points compared to last year due to softer demand, which we believe was impacted by inclement winter weather conditions, primarily in the Northeast and Midwest regions of our system. Bookings for March are a little soft, suggesting our March 2007 load factor may fall below last year's record load factor of 75.5 percent."

For the first two months of 2007, Southwest flew 10.0 billion RPMs, compared to the 9.4 billion RPMs recorded for the same period of 2006, an increase of 6.1 percent. Available seat miles increased 7.1 percent to 15.4 billion from the 2006 level of 14.4 billion. The year-to-date load factor was 65.2 percent, compared to 65.8 percent for the same period last year.