Managed business revenue for Southwest Airlines has shown improvement from the third quarter into the new year, according to Ryan Green, chief commercial officer, speaking on a fourth-quarter earnings call. He said the carrier expects the improvement to continue.

The airline, said Green, has very strong bookings in place on the managed business side for February, adding that “the overall macro-environment sets up well for us having a really good year.” Southwest, he said, gained more than three points of market share in the managed business space during 2023 compared with 2022.

According to Green, Southwest saw no bookings impact from the operations disruption during the 2022 holiday period. He said that result “speaks to the operational improvements we have made over the last year, as well as the enduring loyalty from our customers.”

Southwest reported fourth-quarter revenue of $6.8 billion, a 10.5% increase year over year. Passenger revenue was up 12.1% for the period to $6.2 billion. Full-year 2023 revenue was nearly $26.1 billion, up 9.6% from the prior year. Passenger revenue for the year was $23.6 billion, representing a 10.4% increase. Both the quarter and full-year revenue figures were records, according to the company.

However, Southwest reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $219 million, nearly equal to last year’s $220 million quarterly loss. For 2023, the airline had net income of $498 million, a decrease of 7.6% from 2022.

Image: Shutterstock