Southwest likely to resume buying jets in 2013

Dallas: Southwest Airlines Co., the world's biggest operator of Boeing 737 jets, may start to expand its aircraft fleet again in 2013 to end its longest no-growth period in 40 years of flying.

"We're trying to restore profitability to the point where it is finally justified to commit to buying airplanes," Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said in an interview at Bloomberg's world headquarters in New York. "2013 is an active idea in our minds."

The airline's likely choice would be Boeing's 737-800, which is bigger than Southwest's current 737 model, Kelly said. Southwest agreed in December to buy its first 737-800s to add seats on some routes, fly farther and boost fuel efficiency.

Southwest put the brakes on fleet growth in 2009 as travel demand crumbled during the recession, reversing a tradition of annual expansion. The Dallas-based airline has 552 jets, all 737s, and has been taking planes in the past two years only to replace older aircraft being retired.

‘Little aggressive'

No final decision has been made on resuming growth in 2013, Kelly said, and that may dictate what aircraft type Southwest buys. Seating capacity will rise as much as 6 per cent this year as Southwest flies its aircraft more.

"We don't have any plans to grow our fleet in 2011," said Kelly. "I think 2012 is probably a little aggressive to think about a step-up in our fleet mix.

"When they do decide to accelerate growth, it will probably be at the right time," Jim Corridore, a Standard & Poor's equity analyst in New York, said in an e-mail.