Tue, Mar 03, 2009
Business Travel Drops Sharply Over 2007 Figures
Southwest Airlines presented something of a good news, bad news
report Tuesday. The Dallas-based low-cost carrier reported it flew
5.1 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in February 2009, a 6.0
percent decrease from the 5.4 billion RPMs flown in February
2008.
The good news from that dreary figure comes in the fact that
drop nearly matched the 6.5 percent decrease in available seat
miles over the same period. In other words, capacity cuts
implemented by Southwest over the past year seem to have tracked
passenger demand fairly well.
The airline's load factor for the month was 69.1 percent of
seats filled, compared to 68.6 percent for the same period last
year... another indicator capacity cuts are tracking along with
passenger numbers. However, Southwest warned even more capacity
cuts may be coming.
Of particular concern to Southwest is that its full-fare traffic
has continued to drop, an indicator the airline isn't attracting
business fliers despite recent moves intended to appeal to
last-minute fliers on the company dime.
"Revenues softened in February compared to January, bringing the
year-over-year increase in passenger unit revenues to the two
percent range for the first two months of 2009," the airline
stated. "Business travel, in particular, has softened
significantly, as measured by a decline in the percentage of
full-fare traffic.
"As a consequence of the continued deterioration in revenue and
booking trends and the current economic environment, the Company's
revenue outlook for the remainder of the year is more
cautious."
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