401(k) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $9.9B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 60,657
- Participants Very large workforce
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $162,668
- Avg per participant Above avg balance/head
Official DOL plan name: Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan · Sponsored by Southwest Airlines Co. · Texas · Transportation & Warehousing
$9.9B in assets, 60,657 participants
Southwest Airlines Co.'s Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan reported $9.9B in total assets and 60,657 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 100th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.
- #3,350 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)
Coverage in Texas
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan covers 60,657 participants in Texas, 88x the typical Texas plan (state average ~688 per filing). Assets: $9.9B.
- #3,350
- in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)
- +23.4%
- assets growth YoY
- 99×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan's outsized position by total assets
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan vs every filed plan by assets
End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500
$9,866,923,903 Highest reported value at or above every one of 127,068 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan's mega-plan peer group by participant headcount
Plan-year 2023 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan is a mega filing (60,657 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2022 → plan year 2023
- Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan reported net income rose from -$1.6B in the plan year 2022 filing to $1.9B in the plan year 2023 filing.
- Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan end-of-year assets rose from $8.0B in the plan year 2022 filing to $9.9B in the plan year 2023 filing.
- Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan reported participants rose from 50,590 in the plan year 2022 filing to 60,657 in the plan year 2023 filing.
Plan-year Form 5500 strip
Filing strip 741563240 · Southwest Airlines Co. PY 2023 · 401(k)
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan · $9.9B · 60,657 · 100th
- BOOK $9.9B
- VS-ST 60,657
- BOY 100th
- SCH 401(k)
- EBSA near GE Healthcare Retirement Savings Plan
- PART ind #3350
Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Transportation & Warehousing retirement plans → · Plans in Texas →
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan in the asset neighbourhood
Texas filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $8.0B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $9.9B |
| Net Income | $1.9B |
| Employer EIN | 741563240 |
| Plan Effective Date | 1991-01-01 |
| Filing Status | FILING RECEIVED |
Sponsor Plan History (Southwest Airlines Co.)
Sponsor-wide plan assets over time
All Southwest Airlines Co. plans reported in each filing year
- Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
- $28.7B 37.33380234491332% vs 2022
- 2024 filing year
| Year | Plans | Participants | Total Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3 | 120,230 | $20.9B |
| 2023 | 3 | 141,844 | $24.8B |
| 2024 | 4 | 168,461 | $28.7B |
Nearby 401(k) Plans in Texas
Peer 401(k) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.
- AT&T Retirement Savings Plan $40.0B · 119,854
- Exxonmobil Savings Plan $21.9B · 23,477
- Caterpillar 401(k) Savings Plan $16.5B · 41,679
- American Airlines, Inc. 401(k) Plan $14.7B · 88,792
- Dell Inc. 401(k) Plan $13.5B · 45,686
Scale composition for Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan reports $9.9B in end-of-year assets across 60,657 participants (0.080% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.065% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $162,668 per participant (1.2x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $1.9B.
This plan identity (EIN 741563240, plan #004) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $8.0B to $17.0B (+112.6%) while covered participants moved from 50,590 to 67,820 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.
| Plan year | Participants | EOY assets | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 50,590 | $8.0B | Open filing |
| 2023 | 60,657 | $9.9B | This page |
| 2024 · index core | 67,820 | $17.0B | Open filing |
The same sponsor also keeps 3 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:
- Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan (401(k), $17.0B, 67,820 participants)
- Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan (401(k), $11.6B, 11,242 participants)
- Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan (Defined Benefit (Pension), $41M, 9,612 participants)
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan's out-of-state 401(k) peers by assets and headcount
Outside Texas, the nearest 401(k) by assets is GE Healthcare Retirement Savings Plan in IL ($9.8B); by covered participants it is State Farm 401(k) Savings Plan in IL (60,246 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($9.9B here).
- GE Healthcare Retirement Savings Plan (IL) $9.8B · N/A
- The Vanguard Retirement and Savings Plan (PA) $9.8B · 18,200
- The Dow Chemical Company Employees' Savings Plan (MI) $10.1B · 18,088
- Truist Financial Corporation 401(k) Savings Plan (NC) $10.1B · 55,480
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (60,657 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- State Farm 401(k) Savings Plan (IL) 60,246 · 411 off
- Nordstrom 401(k) Plan (WA) 61,127 · 470 off
- Advance Auto Parts, Inc. 401(k) Plan (VA) 60,087 · 570 off
- Kohl's Inc. Savings Plan (WI) 60,058 · 599 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.