Southwest Airlines, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport?s largest carrier, reported this week that the local hub has become the carrier?s biggest growth market.
The announcement came in tandem with the release of the airline?s second-quarter 2006 earnings. During the second quarter, Southwest saw a passenger increase of about 17 percent at BWI, compared with growth of 9 percent system-wide. For the first six months of 2006, the total number of passengers flying Southwest out of BWI was 1.8 million, marking a 13 percent increase over the 1.6 million passengers who flew Southwest during the same time period a year before.
Whitney Eichinger, a Southwest spokeswoman, attributed the growth locally to a variety of factors, but mainly to the bankruptcy and liquidation of ultra-low-fare carrier Independence Air, which was headquartered at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. That airline went out of business in January.
“We opened a new terminal in 2005 and there was also the demise of Independence Air,” Eichinger said. “A lot of the customers that were traveling on that airline have opted to fly on Southwest.”
To further accommodate former Independence Air passengers, Eichinger said the airline plans to begin operations out of Dulles in October.
“Southwest was able to take on two gates there,” Eichinger said. “It?s not as large as our Baltimore operation, but it will complement the Baltimore operation for travelers who are closer to Dulles.”
In addition to Southwest?s record growth in the Baltimore region, the carrier also reported record second-quarter earnings. For the three-month period ended June 30, net income for Southwest was $333 million or 40 cents per diluted share, compared with $144 million for the second quarter of 2005. Without a fuel-hedge related gain that allowed the airline to negotiate fuel prices in advance, net income was $273 million or 33 cents per diluted share.
The company also reported quarterly revenues of $2.45 billion, an increase of 26 percent compared with revenues of $1.95 billion in the second quarter of 2005. Additionally, its load factor, which measures the average number of people on flights, was 78 percent.
Meanwhile, Gary C. Kelly, Southwest?s chief executive officer, said he expects the airline?s growth to continue.
“Thus far, strong load factor trends have continued in July and customer bookings for the remainder of third quarter 2006 are strong,” Kelly said in a statement. “Based on our July results to date, we expect strong year-over-year unit revenue trends again in third quarter 2006.”
