RTTNews | Sep 9, 2021 07:59AM EDT

07:59 Thursday, September 9, 2021 (RTTNews.com) - Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) on Thursday said business revenue in August was near the lower end of the the its expectation.

The airliner continues to experience softness in leisure bookings and elevated trip cancellations, due to the rise in COVID-19 cases associated with the Delta variant, it said in a filing.

"August 2021 managed business revenues decreased approximately 64 percent compared with August 2019, relatively in line with July 2021 managed business revenues down approximately 63 percent compared with July 2019, as business demand stalled in August 2021 following several months of sequential improvements," Southwest Airlines said.

For the third quarter, the company expects operating revenue to be down 18% to 20% compared with the same period in 2019. The company had previously projected an operating revenue decline of 15% to 20%.

Available seat miles is expected to increase 47% year-over-year in the third quarter, compared with previous outlook of 49% up.

As compared with 2019, ASM is expected to be down 2% in the third quarter.

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