Southwest Airlines Reports December Traffic08:45 EST Tuesday, January 08, 2013DALLAS, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today reported December 2012 consolidated traffic results for Southwest Airlines and AirTran.  AirTran became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines Co. ("the Company") on May 2, 2011.  For purposes of comparability, full year 2011 traffic results presented in the accompanying table include the combined results of Southwest Airlines and AirTran for periods prior to the acquisition date.The Company flew 8.2 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in December 2012, which was comparable to the RPMs flown in December 2011.  Available seat miles (ASMs) of 10.5 billion in December 2012 were comparable to December 2011.  The December 2012 load factor was 78.0 percent, compared to 78.4 percent in December 2011.  For December 2012, passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) is estimated to have been comparable to December 2011.For the fourth quarter of 2012, the Company flew 24.8 billion RPMs, compared to 25.2 billion RPMs flown in the same period in 2011, a decrease of 1.4 percent.  Fourth quarter 2012 ASMs decreased 0.3 percent to 31.2 billion from the fourth quarter 2011 level of 31.3 billion.  The fourth quarter 2012 load factor was 79.6 percent, compared to the load factor of 80.5 percent for the same period in 2011.For the full year of 2012, the Company flew 102.9 billion RPMs, compared to 103.9 billion combined RPMs flown in full year 2011, a decrease of 1.0 percent.  Full year 2012 ASMs decreased 0.3 percent to 128.1 billion from the combined ASMs of 128.5 billion for full year 2011.  The full year 2012 load factor was 80.3 percent, compared to the combined load factor of 80.8 percent for full year 2011.  This release, as well as past news releases about Southwest Airlines Co., is available online at southwest.com.       SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. PRELIMINARY COMPARATIVE TRAFFIC STATISTICS              DECEMBER 2012 2011 CHANGE Revenue passengers carried  8,610,383 8,943,438 (3.7)% Enplaned passengers 10,645,104 10,917,993 (2.5)% Revenue passenger miles (000) 8,174,930 8,195,341 (0.2)% Available seat miles (000) 10,479,165 10,454,875 0.2 % Load factor 78.0% 78.4% (0.4) pts. Average length of haul 949 916 3.6 % Trips flown 108,789 114,957 (5.4)% FOURTH QUARTER 2012 2011  CHANGE  Revenue passengers carried  26,607,560 27,536,128 (3.4)% Enplaned passengers 32,699,829 33,510,920 (2.4)% Revenue passenger miles (000) 24,821,008 25,180,506 (1.4)% Available seat miles (000) 31,193,395 31,297,562 (0.3)% Load factor 79.6% 80.5% (0.9) pts. Average length of haul 933 914 2.1 % Trips flown 327,590 343,756 (4.7)% TOTAL YEAR 2012 2011 CHANGE Revenue passengers carried  109,346,509 110,151,572 (0.7)% Enplaned passengers 133,978,100 135,274,464 (1.0)% Revenue passenger miles (000) 102,874,979 103,864,488 (1.0)% Available seat miles (000) 128,137,684 128,518,201 (0.3)% Load factor 80.3% 80.8% (0.5) pts. Average length of haul 941 943 (0.2)% Trips flown 1,361,558 1,399,644 (2.7)% *** SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.For further information: Investor Relations, +1-214-792-4415