DALLAS, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 5.8 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in September 2009, an 8.8 percent increase from the 5.3 billion RPMs flown in September 2008. Available seat miles (ASMs) decreased 7.8 percent to 7.7 billion from the September 2008 level of 8.4 billion. The load factor for the month was 74.7 percent, compared to 63.4 percent for the same period last year. For September 2009, passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased in the three percent range as compared to September 2008. For the third quarter 2009, Southwest flew 19.7 billion RPMs, compared to the 18.8 billion RPMs recorded for the same period in 2008, an increase of 4.7 percent. Available seat miles decreased 5.8 percent to 24.8 billion from the third quarter 2008 level of 26.3 billion. The third quarter 2009 load factor was 79.6 percent, compared to 71.6 percent for the same period last year. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, Southwest flew 56.3 billion RPMs, compared to the 56.2 billion RPMs recorded for the same period in 2008, an increase of 0.1 percent. Available seat miles decreased 4.3 percent to 74.5 billion from the 2008 level of 77.8 billion. The year-to-date load factor was 75.6 percent, compared to 72.3 percent for the same period last year. This press releases, as well as past releases on Southwest, are available online at http://www.southwest.com/?src=INVRINVSETR000000091007. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS SEPTEMBER --------- 2009 2008 CHANGE ---- ---- ------ Revenue passengers carried 6,777,496 6,424,143 5.5% Enplaned passengers 7,950,437 7,353,011 8.1% Revenue passenger miles (000) 5,771,993 5,307,438 8.8% Available seat miles (000) 7,723,485 8,376,529 (7.8)% Load factor 74.7% 63.4% 11.3 pts. Average length of haul 852 826 3.1% Trips flown 89,497 95,947 (6.7)% THIRD QUARTER ------------- 2009 2008 CHANGE ---- ---- ------ Revenue passengers carried 22,373,892 22,243,013 0.6% Enplaned passengers 26,396,360 25,686,181 2.8% Revenue passenger miles (000) 19,706,579 18,822,810 4.7% Available seat miles (000) 24,771,016 26,287,035 (5.8)% Load factor 79.6% 71.6% 8.0 pts. Average length of haul 881 846 4.1% Trips flown 283,663 300,537 (5.6)% YEAR-TO-DATE ------------ 2009 2008 CHANGE ---- ---- ------ Revenue passengers carried 64,810,234 67,741,176 (4.3)% Enplaned passengers 75,951,788 77,945,753 (2.6)% Revenue passenger miles (000) 56,281,687 56,226,510 0.1% Available seat miles (000) 74,495,618 77,815,557 (4.3)% Load factor 75.6% 72.3% 3.3 pts. Average length of haul 868 830 4.6% Trips flown 852,371 898,759 (5.2)% http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010724/SWALOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Southwest Airlines CONTACT: Investor Relations of Southwest Airlines, +1-214-792-4415 Web Site: http://www.southwest.com/

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