| Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (the "Company") today reported its third quarter 2024 financial results: |
- Net income of $67 million, or $0.11 per diluted share
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- Net income, excluding special items1, of $89 million, or $0.15 per diluted share
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- Record third-quarter operating revenues of $6.9 billion
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- Liquidity2 of $10.4 billion, well over debt outstanding of $8.0 billion
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- Announced a $250 million accelerated share repurchase program under the Company's $2.5 billion share repurchase authorization
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| Bob Jordan, President, Chief Executive Officer, & Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated, "It’s an exciting time for us as we execute on our ‘Southwest. Even Better.’ plan was outlined last month at Investor Day. The transformational plan represents a culmination of the dedication and hard work of our Team. We are laser-focused on delivering the robust set of tactical and strategic initiatives included in our plan and returning to the strong financial performance we expect. We are fully committed to executing our plan and to reporting regularly on our progress. Our third-quarter profit and strong operational results are reflective of the actions we are taking to deliver our plan and achieve our North Star goal of ROIC3 of at least 15 percent or greater, well above our cost of capital, in 2027. Based on our current progress, outlook, and confidence in our ability to execute our plan, we intend to repurchase an initial $250 million of Southwest common stock through an accelerated share repurchase program, which is under the $2.5 billion share repurchase authorization announced last month." |
| Revenue Results and Outlook: |
- Third quarter 2024 operating revenues were a third-quarter record of $6.9 billion, a 5.3 percent increase, year-over-year
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- Third-quarter 2024 passenger revenues were a third-quarter record of $6.3 billion, a 5.7 percent increase, year-over-year.
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- Third quarter 2024 RASM increased 2.8 percent, year-over-year—within the Company's previous guidance range.
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| The Company's record third-quarter performance for both operating and passenger revenues was driven primarily by yield improvements from capacity moderation across the industry and progress in managing tactical initiatives to drive results. The Company's third quarter 2024 RASM increased 2.8 percent, year-over-year, a solid sequential improvement, and at the better end of its recently improved guidance range of 2 percent to 3 percent, year-over-year. |
| The Company expects fourth quarter 2024 unit revenues to increase in the range of 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent on a year-over-year basis with capacity down approximately 4 percent, also on a year-over-year basis. This guidance range contemplates a headwind of just under one-half point from Hurricane Milton and the resulting Customer cancellations. Thus far in the quarter, travel demand remains healthy and bookings-to-date for the holiday season are strong, demonstrating the continued resilience of the leisure travel market. The guidance range represents another sequential year-over-year unit revenue improvement driven by the Company's focus on tactical actions including network optimization and capacity moderation, marketing and distribution evolution, and continued efforts to advance revenue management techniques. |
| For the full document click the link below: |
| Southwest Airlines Co. |
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