After months of very strong growth, Southwest Airlines saw positive but slower traffic growth in February, according to the company’s latest numbers.

Southwest reported that it flew 8.7 billion revenue passenger miles in February, an increase of 1.1 percent from the 8.6 billion revenue passenger miles it flew in February 2016.

Available seat miles rose by 1.2 percent to 11 billion in February, while load factor was at 79 percent, flat from February 2016.

Southwest Airlines said it estimated that its first quarter 2017 operating revenue per available seat mile would decline in the two to three percent range as compared with the first quarter of 2016.

“A better-than-expected February trip completion rate and the loss of traffic from the heavy rainfall in California are contributing factors to this revised RASM outlook,” the company said.

— Caribbean Journal staff