Higher air fares lift Southwest’s profit
Rising fares are helping Southwest Airlines Co. more than offset the high cost of jet fuel.
The airline said Thursday that second-quarter profit soared 42 percent on record revenue.
Southwest’s average one-way fare topped $150, up 5 percent from last summer. Plenty of passengers were willing to pay the higher prices as the peak vacation season began – traffic measured in miles traveled also rose 5 percent.
Southwest caught a break on fuel costs thanks to a more than 20 percent drop in oil prices. Revenue rose 11.6 percent to $4.62 billion.
