Southwest Airlines (LUV) 8-K Southwest Airlines Reports May Traffic

Ex 99.1

CONTACT:  Investor Relations (214) 792-4415

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES REPORTS MAY TRAFFIC

DALLAS, TEXAS – June 7, 2011 – Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today reported May 2011 traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways.  AirTran Airways became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. (“the Company”) on May 2, 2011.  For purposes of comparability, the Company is providing combined traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways for periods prior to the acquisition date.   See the accompanying tables for combined and individual results.

           The Company flew 9.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in May 2011, compared to 8.3 billion combined RPMs flown in May 2010, an increase of 10.6 percent.  Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 4.2 percent to 11.1 billion from the May 2010 combined level of 10.7 billion.  The load factor for the month was 82.7 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 77.9 percent in May 2010.

For May 2011, Southwest Airlines’ passenger revenue per ASM (excluding AirTran Airways) is estimated to have increased in the 11 to 12 percent range as compared to May 2010.

For the first five months of 2011, the Company flew 41.7 billion combined RPMs, compared to 38.0 billion combined RPMs flown for the same period in 2010, an increase of 9.9 percent.  The combined year-to-date ASMs increased 6.5 percent to 52.4 billion, compared to the combined level of 49.2 billion for the same period in 2010.  The combined year-to-date load factor was 79.6 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 77.2 percent for the same period in 2010.

This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest Airlines Co., is available online at southwest.com.

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	SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
	PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE COMBINED TRAFFIC STATISTICS
	MAY									YEAR-TO-DATE
	2011			2010			CHANGE			2011			2010			CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		9,696,756			9,294,176			4.3	%		44,514,303			42,734,649			4.2	%
Enplaned passengers		11,957,808			11,213,615			6.6	%		54,504,056			51,415,058			6.0	%
Revenue passenger miles (000)		9,213,061			8,331,545			10.6	%		41,731,152			37,987,267			9.9	%
Available seat miles (000)		11,142,018			10,694,094			4.2	%		52,417,193			49,197,703			6.5	%
Load factor		82.7	%		77.9	%	4.8		pts.		79.6	%		77.2	%	2.4		pts.
Average length of haul		950			896			6.0	%		937			889			5.4	%
Trips flown		121,302			118,612			2.3	%		573,475			555,145			3.3	%
	SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
	PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS
	MAY									YEAR-TO-DATE
		2011			2010		CHANGE				2011			2010		CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		7,919,682			7,638,203			3.7	%		36,559,416			35,110,111			4.1	%
Enplaned passengers		9,706,504			9,080,567			6.9	%		44,529,300			41,686,523			6.8	%
Revenue passenger miles (000)		7,376,229			6,662,712			10.7	%		33,612,362			30,301,847			10.9	%
Available seat miles (000)		8,967,013			8,629,255			3.9	%		42,302,724			39,464,189			7.2	%
Load factor		82.3	%		77.2	%	5.1		pts.		79.5	%		76.8	%	2.7		pts.
Average length of haul		931			872			6.8	%		919			863			6.5	%
Trips flown		99,288			96,750			2.6	%		469,794			452,361			3.9	%
	AIRTRAN AIRWAYS
	PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS*
	MAY									YEAR-TO-DATE
		2011			2010		CHANGE				2011			2010		CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		1,777,074			1,655,973			7.3	%		7,954,887			7,624,538			4.3	%
Enplaned passengers		2,251,304			2,133,048			5.5	%		9,974,756			9,728,535			2.5	%
Revenue passenger miles (000)		1,836,832			1,668,833			10.1	%		8,118,789			7,685,420			5.6	%
Available seat miles (000)		2,175,004			2,064,839			5.3	%		10,114,469			9,733,514			3.9	%
Load factor		84.5	%		80.8	%	3.7		pts.		80.3	%		79.0	%	1.3		pts.
Average length of haul		1,034			1,008			2.6	%		1,021			1,008			1.3	%
Trips flown		22,014			21,862			0.7	%		103,681			102,784			0.9	%
*AirTran Airways' traffic statistics have been adjusted to conform to Southwest Airlines' presentation.

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