America West Airlines today reported traffic statistics for the month of
December, fourth quarter and year-end 2003. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs)
for December 2003 were a record 1.8 billion, an increase of 5.3 percent
from December 2002. Capacity for December 2003 was a record 2.4 billion
available seat miles (ASMs), up 4.8 percent from December 2002. The
passenger load factor for the month of December was a record 74.6 percent
vs. 74.2 percent in December 2002.

The load factor for the fourth quarter 2003 was a record 75.5 percent, up
2.3 points from fourth quarter 2002. RPMs for the quarter increased 4.2
percent to a record 5.3 billion, and ASMs for the quarter increased to a
record 7.0 billion vs. 6.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2002.

Year-to-date load factor was a record 76.4 percent, up 2.8 points from
2002. Year-to-date RPMs were a record 21.3 billion, a 7.1 percent increase
from 2002. Available seat miles increased 3.3 percent for the current year
to a record 27.9 billion.

“December marks our ninth consecutive month of record traffic, which
increased by 5.3 percent year-over-year, and outpaced our capacity growth
of 4.8 percent. We are pleased with our unit revenue performance,
particularly unit revenue generated during the holidays, and will continue
to implement our 2004 growth plans that include increasing utilization,
adding flight frequencies in existing markets as well as entering new
routes, and aggressively exploring more future point-to-point flying,”
said Scott Kirby, executive vice president, sales and marketing. America West Airlines editorial, based on news release distributed by PR Newswire.

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