OREANDA-NEWS. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 9.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in August 2013, a 2.0 percent decrease from the 9.4 billion RPMs flown in August 2012.  Available seat miles (ASMs) in August 2013 increased 1.4 percent to 11.3 billion from the August 2012 level of 11.1 billion.  The August 2013 load factor was 81.3 percent, compared to 84.2 percent in August 2012.  For August 2013, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased approximately four percent compared to August 2012.

For the first eight months of 2013, the Company flew 70.8 billion RPMs, compared to 70.3 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2012, an increase of 0.8 percent.  Year-to-date ASMs increased 1.6 percent to 88.3 billion from the 2012 level of 86.9 billion.  The year-to-date load factor was 80.3 percent, compared to 80.9 percent for the same period in 2012.