OREANDA-NEWS. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 9.1 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in April 2014, a 4.4 percent increase from the 8.7 billion RPMs flown in April 2013.  Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 0.6 percent to 11.2 billion, compared to April 2013.  The April 2014 load factor was 81.7 percent, compared to 77.8 percent in April 2013.  For April 2014, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM)  is estimated to have increased in the seven to eight percent range  compared to April 2013.

For the first four months of 2014, the Company flew 33.3 billion RPMs, compared to 32.5 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2013, an increase of 2.4 percent.  Year-to-date ASMs decreased 0.9 percent to 41.6 billion from 42.0 billion for the same period in 2013.  The year-to-date load factor was 79.9 percent, compared to 77.3 percent for the same period in 2013.