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The
U.S. budget carrier, whose shares rose 4 percent in premarket
trading, said it had earned $511 million in the first quarter,
up from $453 million a year earlier.
Excluding special items, the profit was 88 cents per share.
Analysts on average were expecting 84 cents, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The airline offered a bright picture of U.S. travel demand that
contrasted with Wednesday's report from bigger rival United
Continental Holdings Inc, which said flights were exceeding
consumer interest.
"Solid bookings and revenue trends have continued," Southwest
Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said in a news release.
Southwest also said it had moved up plans to retire classic
Boeing Co 737 jets in its fleet to no later than the third
quarter of 2017 from 2018 to resolve uncertainty about
U.S.-mandated pilot training requirements for flying those
aircraft and their next-generation model, the Boeing 737 MAX.
This will result in fewer aircraft and lower growth in flight
capacity than Southwest previously forecast, it said.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Jason Neely
and Lisa Von Ahn)
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