Southwest Airlines Co. may delay any expansion to as late as 2014 as $100-a-barrel oil erodes profit growth at the largest discount carrier, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said.
Flights and seating capacity at the biggest discount carrier will be unchanged this year, and “we haven't made a final decision about 2013 yet,” Kelly said today in an interview. “I don't sense we're going to see a significant increase in capacity in 2013, if we have any at all.”
Analysts track capacity because a tighter supply of seats improves pricing power. With Southwest paying an average of 35 percent more for each gallon of jet fuel in 2011, the Dallas-based airline is under pressure to curb a history of expanding faster than its peers. The shares rose the most in four weeks.
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