Southwest Airlines' October Traffic Up 1.3 Percent

Southwest Airlines Co. says its October traffic rose 1.3 percent as it added longer flights.

Dallas-based Southwest said Thursday that the number of people paying to fly fell 1.3 percent last month, and it cut the number of flights by 3 percent. But remaining flights were longer, with capacity rising 2.4 percent, leading to the increase in traffic.

Because capacity rose faster than traffic, though, occupancy fell 0.8 percentage points to 79.9 percent.

For the first 10 months of the year, Southwest traffic is up 0.9 percent from the year before. Capacity has risen 1.6 percent. Occupancy has fallen 0.6 percentage points to 79.9 percent.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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