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Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly on the company’s earnings, fuel hedging and rising airfare.
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Well while safety regulators are busy figuring out what to do with the dreamliner for the rest of the airline industry it's business as usual southwest.
Reported quarterly results this morning earnings beat estimates and revenue came in just shy.
Still investors -- or not they've brought -- stock to a 52 week high on the news.
Joining me now on the phone from Dallas Gary Kelly -- -- chairman CEO and president's touch on earnings AirTran integration of course what's in store for the the business overall -- -- thank you for for being here.
Let's talk about the profit loss and and really it was about the fuel hedge that was one of the big problems that that's something that -- -- -- always been so effective that.
Do you have a strategy to turn that around -- Well I was a really solid -- we.
You know we are right in line excluding items with the year -- number.
That we ended up with.
A very solid profiting reach for the year -- or fortieth consecutive.
Your earnings than.
The our fuel -- is pretty much a non issue at this point we have.
Position fell through.
2016.
Those positions -- role in the body.
And you know at this point -- fuel hedges release hurting just -- -- really helping us at least 2012 but.
We've got.
Buys protection in place over the next several years if the price picked Scharping -- here.
A global one of the things that did happen on the revenue side obviously it was up fares up about eight dollars year over year do you think that more fare increases are gonna.
Be in the cards for you -- continue to deal not just with maintenance costs and again with fuel labor things like that is that is not a possibility.
-- that's really -- You really put your finger on it over the the cost benefit primarily to increase fuel cost is the pressure -- we're dealing with there -- not -- her earnings target.
And that has caused appears to go up to -- that now.
Our average bear was up about 5%.
Our passengers are flying a little bit longer distance which are prior errors but that that's that's part of that eight dollar changed the -- -- -- the year but.
We're gonna do everything we can't -- crossed -- Key partners lower it if it certainly strive to be lower than anybody else but.
We've got a good year of lined up here -- 2013.
We've got a good year without having to depend on fare increases and so.
You know can't really tell you whether spears will change or not but but the good news is we have a lot of good -- the -- which gonna have a lot of good value it.
And take some pressure off quite likely.
You know the very 57% analysts right now have a -- your stock and that's there's actually been an increase in the analyst community in the ratings on your company -- you wanna ask you about the issues over at Boeing southwest has been a faithful 737.
Buyer of those aircraft four while the entire history of the of the airline -- 41 years.
But that dreamliner.
-- you.
Concerned at all about what's going on in the engineering department of Boeing Gary.
No.
Of course Boeing is one of the great companies of the world and have been our.
Very good -- really great partner of from the very beginning itself -- -- we.
Tremendous success of work it -- bowing -- domestic -- with the 737.
So.
Anytime you have a new airplane they're always.
You know break in type items that just have to be worked through it.
You know to be honest with you I just don't know enough about what these issues are -- to speak intelligently about it it has been completely different.
Electrical system and battery systems that what we have so.
I just can't really had anything other than they're great company you know the work or depict that.
Gary Kelly Southwest Airlines chairman CEO president another quarter behind you Gary thank you very much for being here topic you so -- -- all right close.
