The Dallas-based Southwest Airlines posted on Thursday its fourth loss in the past five quarters.

Southwest suffered a loss of $16 million during the third-quarter ended September 30. It may be noted here that the company had reported a loss of $120 million for the same quarter last year.

The loss was 2 cents per share as compared with 16 cents per share last year.

However, excluding the charges, the company actually pocketed a modest earning of $23 million during the third quarter.

Southwest's chief executive Gary Kelly, said, "People are spending less. We're expecting that's going to continue."

Just 17 per cent of Southwest passengers purchased full-fare tickets during the three months ended September 30.

The sinking revenues at airlines have been offset via extra fees for services such as checking bags.

But Southwest said that it would not charge for luggage as it has other new ideas for generating money.

Shares in Southwest slipped 6.3 per cent to $9.41 in the recent trading.