Southwest CEO not ready to predict recovery DALLAS (Reuters) =97 The chief executive of Southwest Airlines said Tuesday= =20 he expects a smaller profit in the second quarter than a year ago, while=20 adding it was too early to say if the low-fare airline has recovered from=20 the industry's Sept. 11 downturn. Jim Parker, the CEO of the only=20 profitable major U.S. airline, told an analysts conference in New York,=20 monitored by Webcast, that the company has seen growth in traffic in late=20 April and in May after a slow start to the quarter brought about by reduced= =20 travel demand due to the war in Iraq. But, excluding a $271 million payment Southwest received from the=20 government in the quarter as part of an industry-wide aid package, profits= =20 will be down in the second quarter. With a special item, Southwest posted a= =20 second quarter 2002 profit of $102.3 million. "It will be very difficult=20 for us to match the profit in the second quarter of last year when we=20 incurred a one-time, favorable air traffic adjustment of $36 million,"=20 Parker said. Parker said since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United=20 States, which slammed the airline industry, Southwest has been trying to=20 survive the downturn while building for a future when demand recovers. "I=20 think it is too early for me to say that we are on the edge of a recovery.= =20 I don't know when it is going to come, but I do know that Southwest is=20 superbly positioned to participate in any recovery," Parker said. While=20 Parker said he would not predict a recovery for Southwest, shares of=20 aerospace giant Boeing Co. rose about 3.5%, boosted by an analyst upgrade=20 and hopes that its airline customers may be poised for a slow recovery from= =20 a devastating travel slump. Banc of America, in a research note, said airlines were "turning the=20 corner," despite the SARS scare that had cut air travel in Asia. The note=20 pointed to optimism among aircraft leasing companies as well as improving=20 airline traffic in May. Southwest was the only major airline to post a net profit in 2002 as the=20 eight largest U.S. carriers lost $11 billion in the year, including=20 Southwest's $241 million net profit. "Things have stabilized. Things are=20 not getting worse. In my opinion, it is too early for me to stand here and= =20 tell you that things are getting better," Parker said. Parker said that=20 Southwest has been able to keep its costs down during the downturn in the=20 market, while keeping its balance sheet strong. Southwest shares closed=20 unchanged at $16.51 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.=20 Parker also said that earlier in the day, Southwest announced cuts in its=20 walk-up fares between Northeastern U.S. cities and Florida. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************