OREANDA-NEWS. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 8.6 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in October 2013, a 1.3 percent increase from the 8.5 billion RPMs flown in October 2012.  Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 2.4 percent to 10.8 billion from the October 2012 level of 10.5 billion.  The October 2013 load factor was 79.9 percent, compared to 80.7 percent in October 2012.  For October 2013, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have increased in the one to two percent range compared to October 2012.

For the first ten months of 2013, the Company flew 87.3 billion RPMs, compared to 86.6 billion RPMs flown for the same period in 2012, an increase of 0.9 percent.  Year-to-date ASMs increased 1.6 percent to 109.2 billion from 107.5 billion for the same period in 2012.  The year-to-date load factor was 79.9 percent, compared to 80.5 percent for the same period in 2012.