Southwest Airlines says passenger traffic up

Perhaps seeking to turn the page from reports of an emergency landing last week forced by a hole in one of its planes, Southwest Airlines touted March passenger numbers, saying they were up 9.8 percent from last year.
 
Southwest said it flew 7.3 million "revenue passenger miles" in March 2011, compared to a little more 6.6 million in March 2010. That translates to 9.6 million passengers boarding Southwest airplanes this year, the airline said, a 5.8 percent increase over the 9.1 million who boarded planes last March.
 
Southwest recently announced it had returned to a normal flight schedule after an inspection of all of its planes that were similar to one that was forced to make an emergency landing in Yuma, Ariz., last week.

The plane, a Boeing 737-300, was in flight from Phoenix to Sacramento, Calif., when a large hole in its fuselage opened up, according to reports. There were 118 passengers and five Southwest employees on the plane, but no one was hurt.
 
The incident caused the Federal Aviation Administration to mandate that all airlines inspect their older 737s.
 
Southwest began an inspection voluntarily before the FAA order, resulting in hundreds of delays as 79 planes were checked. Five were found to have similar cracks and were taken out of service.