DALLAS, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Southwest Airlines Co.
(NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 3.3 billion revenue
passenger miles (RPMs) in September 2002, a 25.8 percent increase from the
2.6 billion RPMs flown in September 2001.  The Company`s traffic statistics
for September 2001 were significantly impacted by the temporary cancellation
of our flight operations and subsequent decline in air traffic demand
resulting from last year`s terrorist attacks.  Available seat miles (ASMs)
increased 18.4 percent to 5.7 billion from the September 2001 level of
4.8 billion.  The load factor for the month was 56.8 percent, compared to
53.4 percent for the same period last year.

For the third quarter 2002, Southwest flew 11.9 billion RPMs, compared to
the 11.3 billion RPMs recorded for the same period in 2001, an increase of
5.8 percent.  Available seat miles increased 8.1 percent to 17.6 billion from
the third quarter 2001 level of 16.3 billion.  The third quarter 2002 load
factor was 67.7 percent, compared to 69.1 percent for the same period last
year.

For the first nine months of 2002, Southwest flew 34.3 billion RPMs,
compared to the 33.7 billion RPMs recorded for the same period in 2001, an
increase of 1.8 percent.  Available seat miles increased 5.6 percent to
51.3 billion from the 2001 level of 48.6 billion.  The year-to-date load
factor was 66.9 percent, compared to 69.4 percent for the same period last
year.

This press release, as well as past releases on Southwest, are available
online at http://www.southwest.com .

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