Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) announced today that the Company flew 4.1 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in March 2003, compared to 4.0 billion RPMs flown in March 2002, an increase of 1.1 percent. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 5.4 percent to 6.0 billion from the March 2002 level of 5.7 billion. The load factor for the month was 67.3 percent, compared to 70.2 percent for the same period last year.

James F. Parker, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "As expected, year-over-year traffic results for March 2003 were adversely impacted by the timing of Easter and the onset of the war in Iraq. Prior to the war, bookings for April travel were good. Since the war began, booking trends have been inconsistent. Uncertainties created by the war with Iraq render it impossible to predict future bookings and traffic. At this point, we cannot predict how April's load factor will compare to last year's performance of 66.3 percent."

For the first quarter 2003, Southwest flew 10.9 billion RPMs, compared to the 10.4 billion RPMs recorded for the same period of 2002, an increase of 4.8 percent. Available seat miles increased 5.3 percent to 17.4 billion from the 2002 level of 16.5 billion. The first quarter load factor was 62.6 percent, compared to 62.9 percent for the same period last year.

This press release, as well as past releases, can be accessed on the Southwest Airlines internet site at: http://www.southwest.com .

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions, and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning the factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, are contained in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 2002. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS

				MARCH
		2003		2002		CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		5,556,719		5,497,573		1.1%
Revenue passenger miles (000)		4,058,730		4,012,795		1.1%
Available seat miles (000)		6,026,482		5,715,714		5.4%
Load factor		67.3%		70.2%		(2.9) pts.
Average length of haul		730		730		---
Trips flown		80,362		79,685		0.8%
				YEAR-TO-DATE
		2003		2002		CHANGE
Revenue passengers carried		15,077,497		14,463,282		4.2%
Revenue passenger miles (000)		10,895,687		10,392,590		4.8%
Available seat miles (000)		17,399,132		16,519,957		5.3%
Load factor		62.6%		62.9%		(0.3) pts.
Average length of haul		723		719		0.6%
Trips flown		233,087		231,195		0.8%

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.