Southwest Airlines profit more than triples on $1.4B tax benefit

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co on Thursday reported a quarterly profit that more than tripled, helped by a $1.4 billion benefit due to tax reform legislation in the quarter.

The fourth-largest U.S. airline by passenger traffic said net income rose to $1.89 billion , or $3.18 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $522 million, or $0.84 per share, a year earlier.

Operating revenue rose 3.9 percent to $5.27 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Supriya Kurane)