Southwest expects key revenue measure to rise

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines Co. says March bookings are "solid" and the company expects a key revenue measure to rise modestly in the first quarter.

Chief financial officer Tammy Romo said Monday that passenger revenue for every seat flown one mile would rise by a low-single-digit percentage in both February and the entire first quarter compared with the same periods in 2012.

That statistic is watched closely in the airline business. At Dallas-based Southwest it rose 2.6 percent in 2012 after climbing 4.9 percent in 2011 and 15.5 percent in 2010.

Also, Southwest later this year will begin flying four new daily nonstop routes — Nashville-Pittsburgh, Atlanta-San Diego, Des Moines-Las Vegas, and Jacksonville, Fla.-Chicago.