Loading

Southwest Airlines strikes a cautious tone for its 2017 unit revenue performance outlook

Analysis

Southwest Airlines remains committed to capping its capacity growth at 3.5% in 2017, of which 2.5% is pegged for the US domestic market. At the end of 2016 the company said that US domestic seats were outpacing the country's GDP growth, and Southwest has often cited capacity pressure in many of its markets.

The large US airlines, including Southwest, seem to be keeping their domestic growth in check during 2017 as they work to achieve and sustain a positive unit revenue performance. Southwest expects sequential improvement in 1Q2017, and believes two year declines have now bottomed out - a conclusion drawn by most of its US airline counterparts.

Similarly to most US airlines, Southwest is facing cost pressure in 2017 stemming from recent collective bargaining agreement it has reached with large labour groups. The challenge for Southwest and the rest of its competitors is achieving a unit revenue performance that offsets cost inflation.

Read More

This CAPA Analysis Report is 1,263 words.

You must log in to read the rest of this article.

Got an account? Log In

Create a CAPA Account

Get a taste of our expert analysis and research publications by signing up to CAPA Content Lite for free, or unlock full access with CAPA Membership.

InclusionsContent Lite UserCAPA Member
News
Non-Premium Analysis
Premium Analysis
Data Centre
Selected Research Publications

Want More Analysis Like This?

CAPA Membership provides access to all news and analysis on the site, along with access to many areas of our comprehensive databases and toolsets.
Find Out More