Watch CBS News

Southwest Airlines January Traffic Drops Slightly

DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines Co. says traffic fell slightly in January.

Passengers on Dallas-based Southwest and its AirTran subsidiary flew 7.25 billion miles last month, down 1.7 percent from 7.38 billion in January 2012.

The traffic figure released Thursday could have been worse -- boardings fell by nearly 4 percent, but the average trip was 2.2 percent longer, which improves the traffic number.

Despite less traffic last month, passenger revenue per available seat mile rose 2 percent from a year ago. For airlines, that's a closely watched statistic that measures revenue for every unit of production.

The statistic rose faster in early 2012 after a series of fare increases.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Also Check Out:

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.