Southwest Airlines Co. is on pace to replace the US’s No. 1 airline for five years, American Airlines.
The domestic-only discount carrier already eclipsed American’s combined domestic and international traffic during the first five months of 2007, according to a government report.
Southwest carried 40.3 million passengers on domestic routes between January and May, an increase of 4.2% from last year.
American carried 40 million passengers during the January-May period, down 1.8% from last year’s levels, according to the AP.
Last year, Dallas-based Southwest was the No. 2 airline worldwide, according to International Air Transport Association passenger traffic statistics. It carried about 96.3 million passengers, ranking behind Fort Worth, Texas-based American, which carried about 100 million passengers.
American has been the top U.S. airline for the past five years, according to the Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Report by David Wilkening
