Southwest Airlines reports record quarterly profit

Southwest Airlines’second quarter 2015 total operating revenues were US$5.1bn, a 2.0% increase compared with second quarter 2014, largely driven by second quarter 2015 passenger revenues of US$4.9bn. In second quarter 2014, the Company recorded US$47m in additional passenger revenues due to a change to previously recorded estimates of tickets expected to spoil in the future, contributing to the challenging year-over-year comparisons in second quarter 2015 revenue trends. Second quarter 2015 net income was US$608m which included US$83m (net) of unfavorable special items, compared with second quarter 2014 net income of US$465m which included US$20m (net) of unfavorable special items. Excluding special items, second quarter 2015 net income was US$691m compared with second quarter 2014 net income, excluding special items, of US$485m.