United Airlines began as a mail carrying service, and has turned into one of the most popular airlines in the world. Why do people leave their jobs? But one of the structurally difficult things about the airline business is that two key components people and airplanes tend to get more expensive as they get older. The proxy must be sent to every shareholder in advance of the company's annual shareholders meeting. Employees can choose from a broad spectrum of investment options and roll over any eligible funds from a previous employer. For details regarding Direct Stock Purchase & Dividend Reinvestment and other Transfer Agent information. $17.75 per hour. One-third of Southwests 60,000 employees chose one of the programs. It only has a few aircraft types, which helps the airline reduce its costs. Based on our research, similar companies to Southwest Airlines are PSA Airlines, Expeditors, and American Airlines. We had more customers than we could serve in Denver, Austin, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Nashville, and more cities, says Kelly. Once again, Kelly leaped in. Southwest continues to improve its business model and practices. In 2019, Southwest went to a new playbook: The goal was tofirst finish the last legs of the over-the-water network by adding Honolulu and gateways to four other Hawaiian airports from the West Coast. Employees in the top 10 percent can make over $87,000 per year, while employees at the bottom 10 percent earn less than $19,000 per year. Gary Kelly had no visibility. InApril 2020, Southwest introduced three options for flight attendants, pilots, maintenance workers, salaried employees,and all other groups. Southwest Airlines is strong from both a size and a cost perspective. The collapse in demand for flights throughout 2020 nearly put several airlines out of business, but Southwest was able to survive without major layoffs. Like Southwest Airlines Co workers, numerous employees in the United States take advantage of group health insurance funded by their employer, through which a Read more, Compare the work satisfaction, stress and gender at Southwest Airlines Co with similar employers, Streamlined solutions for every step of the compensation management journey, Continuously updated compensation datasets from Payscale and our partners, Flexible, customizable services and support for Payscale customers, End comp guesswork with our free job-pricing tool, From collection to validation, our data methodology delivers certainty, Meet the leaders dedicated to empowering better conversations around pay, Track and compare wage-growth by city, industry, company size, and job category, Access helpful tools and insights for career planning and salary negotiation, Explore real-world career trends and advice from the leaders in compensation, Uncover detailed salary data for specific jobs, employers, schools, and more, Take our salary survey to see what you should be earning. The card allows them to accumulate Southwest Airlines points when making other purchases. Departments that don't pay as well at Southwest Airlines include the customer service and warehouse organizational functions, with employees earning $31,175 and $35,038, respectively. Salaries at Southwest Airlines Co range from an average of $51,903 to $141,342 a year. Southwest Airlines Employees in Seattle, WA don't earn quite as much. Loved it! Qualitative analysis evaluates a company's unquantifiable aspects such as management style and worker loyalty. Southwest's main competitors are-American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Air France KLM. It has pushed the industry in many positive trends, but this is an aggressive industry. Ithada thriving hub in Fort Lauderdale, but not a single flight from much larger Miami International to the south. We were flying around the country with four or five passengers on the737-700 and 800s that carry 143 and 175 passengers,White tellsFortune. A part of our Company Promise is to provide a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and growth. Salaries By Southwest Airlines Competitors. Southwest Employees recieve access to unique, engaging, and modern development opportunities including in-person classes, online content, mentor programs, and more! Salaries at Southwest Airlines can vary depending on the department or organizational function. Southwest Airlines co-founder Herb Kelleher said " the business of business is people ," and Southwest's leadership still takes that message to heart. Coronavirus Tips Working and Protection, For its 2021 fiscal year, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO, listed the following executives on its annual proxy statement to the SEC. And, with pass agreements from other airlines and discounts with rental car companies, hotels, theme parks, and more, Employees can choose their own adventure. Southwest Airlines Co employees with the job title Software Engineer make the most with an average annual salary of $92,984, while employees with the title Associate Software Engineer make the least with an average annual salary of $73,993. He achieved that feat by deploying planes parked at desert airfields, and crews grounded by the pandemic, thatSouthwest still paid for, and dispatching them to thenew routes, a gambit that brought sorely needed revenue. The charts on this page feature a breakdown of the total annual pay for the top executives at SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO as reported in their proxy statements. We wanted to make our network more dense, to get more connectivity. A career at Southwest Airlines includesseveral benefits and perks, from ourlegendary Culture to travel privileges for Employees and their eligible dependents. Kelly views a full workforce thats ready to go and growas essential to capitalizing on its move into those 17 new markets, soon to increase to 18 with the addition of Syracuse. As Americans line up once again at the ticket counters, its likely that Southwest will begin its second half-century in a much stronger position versus American, United, and Delta than before the pandemic. Our data shows that Southwest Airlines employees in San Jose, CA get paid the most, where the average yearly pay is $48,257. While rivals were exiting market after market, Southwest has opened no fewer than 17 new destinations, a campaign that encompasses key hubs Chicago OHare, Miami International, and Houston Intercontinental. In February of 2022, Southwest Airlines appointed a new CEO, Bob Jordan. Miss the industry alot. Salaries are taken from job posts or reported by employees and are not adjusted for level or location. Southwest. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, the factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings, and as described in the press releases and other materials contained on this website. Salaries at Southwest Airlines Co range from an average of $51,903 to $141,342 a year. The atmospherics were like something out of a disaster movie. The finance organizational function also pays relatively high compared to other departments, where employees earn $77,729. Southwest is the only large airline that can compete on price. Before you decide whether variable pay is right for your org, get a deeper understanding of the variable pay options and the cultural impact of pay choices. Delta Air Lines employees rated their Positive Business Outlook 7% higher than Southwest Airlines employees rated theirs. Working at Integrated Airline Services, Inc. You get to bat in a crisis a couple of times in 50 years, and how you do proves what you stand for or disproves it, he said. Flight attendant. Southwest Airlines employees rate the overall compensation . Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Baggage handler. The Chair of the Committee shall preside over Committee meetings. Southwest Airlines is approximately 83 percent unionized. Compare. United Airlines. His base pay is $643,750 with $989,000 as bonuses. All Rights Reserved. The purpose of the Compensation Committee (the Committee) of the Board of Directors (the Board) of Southwest Airlines Co. (the Company) is to assist the Board with its oversight of (i) compensation of the Companys executives and other employees, as well as non-employee members of the Board; (ii) succession planning; and (iii) human resources policies and practices. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO annual reports of executive compensation and pay are most commonly found in the Def 14a documents. Although it is valued and laughed as one of the best airlines, it has taken several risks and uncertainties. Recognition is a cornerstone of our Culture. Save for retirement through our 401(k) Plan with pre-tax or Roth after-tax contributions. Fees for check baggage are a signifiant part of. Learn more about each company and apply to jobs near you. Remarkably, Kelly tellsFortune that at least on a quarterly basis, he hasnt given up on achieving Southwests biggest revenues ever by sometime next year, a record no other major is likely to match, or would have the nerve to predict. This growth has made them a major carrier of business travelers, who choose Southwest because of their high frequency in and among big cities, good reliability, and easy usage rules without a lot of fees. Southwest matches Employee contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 9.3% of their eligible earnings. In two in-depth interviews withFortune, Kelly described how Southwest navigated the pandemic. Eligible dependents include spouse or committed/registered partner, eligible dependent children under 19 years old (or up to 24 if a full-time student), and parents. One hundred people in personnel went to other jobs across the company, such as keeping maintenance records, says Jordan. One said to the other You know what I like about flying Southwest? Delta pilots approved a new contract that includes 34% raises over four years. Southwest Employees can visit almost any corner of the world with generous travel privileges and turn recognition into something meaningful with SWAG Points. The Committee shall meet as often as the Committee, the Board, or the Chair of the Committee may deem necessary or appropriate for the Committee to fulfill its responsibilities. Southwest Airlines offers automated options to receive Investor Alerts. For more than 50 years, Southwest has connected People and championed communities. At Southwest Airlines, employees working in engineering jobs and finance jobs tend to earn the highest salaries. SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO income statements for executive base pay and bonus are filed yearly with the SEC in the edgar filing system. It wasnt uncommon to make the 2,400-mile trek from Los Angeles to Honolulu with a dozen passengers. Southwest Airlines offers benefits to full-time employees including: Accidental death and dismemberment insurance. The FAA had effectively frozen the number of landing and takeoff slots or times, making it impossible for Southwest to expand there, and challengeUnited and American, the two carriers thataccount for almost 80% of its traffic. Eligible dependents include spouse or committed/registered partner, eligible dependent children under 19 years old (or up to 24 if a full-time student), and parents. But in order to get new employees, Delta has accepted it will have to raise wages. A comeback on that scale would be heroic, considering the depth of the drop, and how long the pandemic crunched air travel to the levels of the 1970s. The Committee shall consist of at least two members of the Board, each of whom shall meet applicable independence requirements of the New York Stock Exchange. 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. Theyd never seen that from Southwest before. If the unions didnt come through, the workforce would shrink by 6,000, or over 10%. The starting pay at Southwest Airlines is $19,000 per year, or $9.13 per hour. The fight for higher-paying business travelers has always been the game of the larger airlines, and the elimination of change fees repositions that balance. The losses swelled Southwests debt level from a slender$1.85 billion at the close of 2019 to $10.55 billion in Q1. The second: extended time off, or ETO, in whichemployees could elect to stop working for six, 12, or 18 months at half-pay. We almost lost a zero, says Bob Jordan,EVP of corporate services. 4.2. Community Giving Boards comprised of local Employees decide how Southwest gives back to charities in their neighborhoods, tapping into the passion points of their community. Vision coverage is an available option for Employees and their families, and includes complete eye exams and contact lenses, or lenses and frames. Which benefits does Southwest Airlines provide? Copyright 2008-2023, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc, Ask anonymous questions on Fishbowl and get real time answers from Southwest Airlines and United Airlines employees and others in your industry. Accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance is also available as another way to protect Employees or their families in the event of an accident. Noncontract Employees receive coverage from a Company-paid short-term disability plan if an illness or injury lasts more than one week. Southwest prides itself on being a people-oriented airline that operates with friendly and approachable employees and team members. Before the crisis, OHare wasnt even on Southwests wish list. But what they did during the pandemic is the Big Gulp version of what they usually do. But long ago they used to advertise that their highest fare was $299. If Southwest does lose some of its significant business base as a result of the change fee going away, baggage would be an obvious place for it to recover some of that lost revenue. Southwest Airlines Co employee benefits and perks data. Yet within months Southwest roared back to post steady profits. The average Southwest Airlines hourly pay ranges from approximately $19 per hour for a Ticket Agent to $105 per hour for a Sr Systems Engineer. Plus, we offer several volunteer opportunities throughout the year to allow Employees to make a difference with their Southwest Family. About 1,500 of the 17,000 flight attendants got those furlough letters late last year, and I was flying with some of them, says White. Compare. Any company operating in the airline industry must maintain and strengthen a set of competitive advantages that differentiate it from its competitors. Checked baggage is mostly a leisure traveler behavior. Its pricing strategy offers extremely low prices compared to other large airlines, such as Delta and American Airlines. Rank Company Name Zippia Score Average Salary; 1: PSA Airlines: 4.9: $46,385: 2: Expeditors: 4.6: . Still, Southwests balance sheet is in the best shape by far among the majors. We believe that Southwest Employees have the best contracts in the industry and that they are very well compensated. Company reviews. Besides motivated employees and great customer service, Southwest Airlines offers one of the lowest-priced solutions for air travel. As adopted by the Board of Directors of Southwest Airlines Co. on February 2, 2022. The difference in fees made it extremely difficult for a low-cost carrier like Southwest, says Mann. But they could reach that goal through a variety of routes, by imposing layoffs, reducing pay, or hiking productivity, or a blend of all three. They are now a major player in Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Baltimore, Florida, California and Dallas thanks to the removal of the highly restrictive Wright Amendment that for decades kept a cap on flights from Dallas Love Field. Other available benefits include adoption assistance reimbursement, paid adoption leave, parental leave (Noncontract Employees), child and elder care resource and referral program, committed partner benefits, a concierge program, supplemental hospital insurance, pet insurance, and auto and home insurance. Founded: April 6, 1926. If a customer can find a lower-priced ticket, Southwest Airlines matches the price. And the$1.54 billion Southwestowes in PSP debt carries extremely low rates. It was a great way to help us offset big fixed costs thatare impossible to cut, says Kelly. The numbers that the Southwest Airlines CEO surveyed in April of last year were unspeakably catastrophic, and he had no indicators to foresee if the pandemic signaled a brief nosedive or a slow-motion crash. $53,200 per year. Our growth plans were stymied by losing the MAX, saysAndrew Watterson,Southwests chief commercial officer. Even after the voluntary programs took effect, Southwest was still far overstaffed. Southwest was already flying 34 of the MAX and had 26 more on order for the year, meaning that its total fleet for2019 was almost 10% smaller than expected. The union contracts required that Southwest provide advance notice of the cuts to come if the flight attendants, pilots, and other groups failed to present a plan to reach that 10% target. However for a complete and definitive understanding of the pay practices of any company, users should refer directly to the actual, complete proxy statement. How Much Does Southwest Airlines Pay Compared To Delta Air Lines? Delta Air Lines scored higher in 6 areas: Overall Rating, Work-life balance, Senior Management, CEO Approval, Recommend to a friend and Positive Business Outlook. That quietly went away as Southwest has taken the lead over the last number of years in raising fares, especially as they have become more dominant in their biggest operational geographies. The objective was to secure large reductions through voluntary programs that kept the largest possible number ofworkersofficially employed, and poised to return in the upswing. I like that everyone knows what to do they just get in line with their number and there is no drama. I butted in and said You know what I dont like about flying Southwest? I write about airlines and travel to explain this crazy industry. Southwest has achieved its biggest expansion ever in its deepest downturn just as it prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary on June 18. The first was called voluntary separation, or VSP. . The airline couldn't managed to keep its . The highest reported salary for an employee at Southwest Airlines Co is currently $141k / year, Southwest Airlines Co offers some retirement and welfare benefits. Wed regularly book 40people on the busiest routes, and 16 would board. These flexible policies help the airline to build high levels of brand loyalty. Other roles at Southwest Airlines include manager, custom support and services and cashier. This website contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Also, proxies must disclose specific detailed information regarding the pay practices for certain executives. The shockwaves from two of the worst tragedies in airline history left Southwest short of the horses needed for the charge. Southwest Airlines Co employees with the job title Software Engineer make the most with an average.