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Southwest Airlines Overview

Industry
Airlines/Aviation
Revenue
Headquarters
Employees
58,803
Founded In
Website
Organization Type
Public
Social Media

Southwest Airlines is a transportation company focusing on aviation, customer service, and efficiency. Founded in 1967, the Dallas-based airline is now the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. Operating the largest fleet of Boeing aircraft in the world, it serves 96 destinations across 41 states and various international locations through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AirTran Airways. Known for its triple bottom line approach, Southwest Airlines prioritizes its performance, employee well-being, and commitment to communities and the planet.

Led by CEO Robert E. Jordan, Southwest Airlines has a diverse workforce of nearly 58,803 employees from various backgrounds. The company has an excellent employee retention rate with staff members staying for an average of 5.6 years. With an annual revenue of $23.8 billion, Southwest Airlines is considered an industry leader in the transportation sector. Employees at this company earn an average salary of $41,081 per year, making it competitive within the aviation industry.

Southwest Airlines's Mission Statement

The highest quality of customer service, these core values describe what that service will look like: it will be warm and inviting, it will be friendly, there will be a sense of pride when delivering it, and the employees will also possess strong company spirit.

4.5/5

Southwest Airlines employee reviews

Based on 19 ratings

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Job openings at Southwest Airlines
66 Positions
Average salary at Southwest Airlines
$41,081 yearly

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Southwest Airlines employee reviews

Southwest Airlines employee reviews
4.5/5

Based On 19 Ratings

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Employee Reviews
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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2024
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

What “did” I enjoy about working there? The Enjoyment of people combined with aviation.

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Without pointing fingers, the station leaders, at times, were just a bit sour.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Flying

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2023
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

The best place in the world to work

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

There are no cons

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Flying free, all the kindness and help you receive from managers all the way down to employees.

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2023
Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Too much diversity

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2021
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

Customer Service is my favorite part. I love getting to know the passengers and providing them with excellent service. I like that people are appreciative of me.

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Weather delays and mechanical delays. Being a problem solver I’d like to find solutions to make customers happy. If the issue is a mechanical or weather delay it is out of my hands and I feel frustrated I can’t do anything to help them while on the aircraft.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Free flying. I’ve been able to take my family to places I would have never been able to before. It’s a perk that has made my life full of experiences and memories.

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2021
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

Company incentives and culture diversity

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Union environment can be challenging

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Profit sharing

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

I most love the people I work with. I also love the benefits.

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

My schedule constantly changes, making it hard to have a life outside of work.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

My favorite perk is definitely the free flights!

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

The people are awesome. Great company culture.

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Nothing.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Flight benefits. The 401k match was very good. I have not encountered another company that has the same level of match. Also, Southwest Airlines has a generous profit sharing program.

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

Stable career, life long friends

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

The hours are irregular, to say the least.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

401k/profitsharing and great health care.

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2.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

Ramp Supervisor

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Management remain blind against harassment.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Medical benefits, flight benefits and adjustable work hours

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

The people and work environment

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Lack of communication. That's about it.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Flight Benefits and working with the flight crews.

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

Family atmosphere and stellar customer service

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Mandatory overtime for junior employees

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

culture,freindly,relaxed atmosphere

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

lifestyle being away from home

Southwest Airlines Benefits

flexibility

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3.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

I loved the creative expression that was allowed and the work I was doing.

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

The management was too into themselves

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Free Airline passes

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2018
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

The culture and the way they treat their employees!

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Nothing! I love everything about working there. I couldn't ask for a better company.

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Flying standby

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2018
Pros of working at Southwest Airlines

Great benefits, flexibility, inclusive, amazing culture. Best company I've ever worked for.

Cons of working at Southwest Airlines

Depends on your position but working on the ramp can be tough on the body at times

Southwest Airlines Benefits

Free flights and the 9.3% 401k matching

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The team at Southwest Airlines

  • The founders of Southwest Airlines are Herbert Kelleher and Rollin King.
  • The key people at Southwest Airlines are Robert E. Jordan, Herbert Kelleher and Rollin King.
Key People
Robert E. Jordan
Herbert Kelleher
Rollin King
The Inside Scoop
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Southwest Airlines was established to connect people to what's important in their lives through friendly, reliable, low-cost air travel. Since its inception in 1971, it has been this company's mission to deliver the highest quality of customer service with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.

Southwest Airlines Rankings

Southwest Airlines is ranked #13 on the Best Transportation Companies to Work For in Texas list. Zippia's Best Places to Work lists provide unbiased, data-based evaluations of companies. Rankings are based on government and proprietary data on salaries, company financial health, and employee diversity.

Read more about how we rank companies.

Southwest Airlines salaries

The average a Southwest Airlines salary in the United States is $41,081 per year. Southwest Airlines employees in the top 10 percent can make over $87,000 per year, while Southwest Airlines employees at the bottom 10 percent earn less than $19,000 per year.
Average Southwest Airlines Salary
$41,081
yearly
$19.75 hourly
Updated March 14, 2024

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Southwest Airlines diversity

9.9
Diversity Score
We calculated Southwest Airlines’s diversity score by measuring multiple factors, including the ethnic background, gender identity, and language skills of Southwest Airlines’s workforce.
Southwest Airlines diversity summary. Zippia estimates Southwest Airlines's demographics and statistics using a database of 30 million profiles. Zippia verifies estimates with BLS, Census, and current job openings data for accuracy. We calculated Southwest Airlines's diversity score by measuring multiple factors, including the ethnic background, gender identity, and language skills of Southwest Airlines's workforce.
  • Southwest Airlines has 58,803 employees.
  • 46% of Southwest Airlines employees are women, while 54% are men.
  • The most common ethnicity at Southwest Airlines is White (56%).
  • 20% of Southwest Airlines employees are Hispanic or Latino.
  • 12% of Southwest Airlines employees are Black or African American.
  • The average employee at Southwest Airlines makes $41,081 per year.
  • Southwest Airlines employees are most likely to be members of the republican party.
  • Employees at Southwest Airlines stay with the company for 5.6 years on average.

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Southwest Airlines Financial Performance

9.6
Performance Score

We calculated the performance score of companies by measuring multiple factors, including revenue, longevity, and stock market performance.

Southwest Airlines currently has 23.8B in revenue. Southwest Airlines's most recent quarter produced 6.5b (q3'2023).

Southwest Airlines annual revenue

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Highest paying Southwest Airlines competitors

Compare Southwest Airlines salaries to competitors, including PSA Airlines, Expeditors, and American Airlines. Employees at PSA Airlines earn the highest average yearly salary of $46,385. The salaries at Expeditors average $45,974 per year, and the salaries at American Airlines come in at $45,470 per year.

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Southwest Airlines FAQs

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Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Southwest Airlines, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Southwest Airlines. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Southwest Airlines. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Southwest Airlines. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Southwest Airlines and its employees or that of Zippia.

Southwest Airlines may also be known as or be related to Southwest, Southwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines Co and Southwest Airlines Co.