major airline in the United States. SWA spans over fifty-six airports compare with 1971 only Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Also, SWA is known in the airlines industry as a quality flight and the most modern fleet. SWA is a service business and it is continuing to improve its services.INDUSTRY OVERVIEW, TRANDS AND OPPORTUNITIES.Air travel slowing industrywide.According to Standard & Poors' Industry Survey, in 1998, air travel for the industry's major carriers was projected to increase 2.9% to 590 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs). This is somewhat slower than the projected 3.5% gain for real gross domestic product (GDP) in 1998. In 1999, RPMs would advance 2.5% to 605 billion, while real GDP is seen growing 1.7%. The recently sluggish pace for air travel represents a break from the normal pattern: since 1987, air travel has grown 1.8 times faster than real GDP.Two elements are working against air travel at present. First, the industry is experiencing a cyclical slowdown that has its origins in the Asian financial crisis. Second, with the days of deeply discounted fares over, fewer first-time travelers are entering the market.The big swing factor for air travel in 1998 and 1999 will be the international market. International travel accounts for some 27% of total Revenues per mile (RPM) and 22% of revenues for the largest U.S. carriers. For the first eight months of 1998, international RPMs climbed 3.7% over the year-earlier period. However, as capacity grew 5.8%, the load factor deteriorated to 73.7% from 75.2%. Most of the international weakness is confined to Asia, where traffic is off about 8%. While the economic slowdown that's underway may not deteriorate into a recession, it is expected to take its toll on corporate profits. Historically, business travel reflects changes in corporate profits, though sometimes with a lag. In 1997, the Travel Industry Association of America reported that business travel increased 7.6...
