Southwest 2Q profit soars, but cheaper fares sting

The carrier released quarterly results a day after a massive technology failure led to hundreds of canceled and delayed flights.

A spokesman said all systems were fixed by early Thursday morning, but the airline is still bracing for long lines Thursday as customers who were stranded during the outage will try to find new flights.

Southwest Airlines Co., the nation's fourth-biggest airline, said revenue in the second quarter increased 5 percent to $5.38 billion, with about half the increase due to a new credit card deal it signed with Chase Bank last year.

Labor costs crept higher, but the airline spent 10 percent less on jet fuel, a savings of $102 million compared with the same period last year.

Excluding one-time charges and gains, profit was $757 million, or $1.19 per share, which is 2 cents shy of Wall Street expectations, according to analysts polled by FactSet.