401(k) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023

Southwest Airlines Company 401(k) Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$9.1B
Total assets Very large vs avg
9,726
Participants Very large workforce
100th
Percentile by assets National rank
$939,995
Avg per participant High balance/head
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Official DOL plan name: Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan · Sponsored by Southwest Airlines Company · Texas · Transportation & Warehousing

$9.1B in assets, 9,726 participants

Southwest Airlines Company's Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan reported $9.1B in total assets and 9,726 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.

  • #3,348 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)

Coverage in Texas

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan covers 9,726 participants in Texas, 14x the typical Texas plan (state average ~688 per filing). Assets: $9.1B.

#3,348
in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)
+20.6%
assets growth YoY
92×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan's outsized position by total assets

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500

$9,142,389,510 Highest reported value at or above every one of 127,068 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.

Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan's large-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 Pilots Retirement Savings Plan lands in the large band (9,726 participants).

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2022 → plan year 2023

  • Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan reported net income rose from -$1.2B in the plan year 2022 filing to $1.6B in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan end-of-year assets rose from $7.6B in the plan year 2022 filing to $9.1B in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan reported participants rose from 9,186 in the plan year 2022 filing to 9,726 in the plan year 2023 filing.

See the national 2022→2023 release diff →

Form 5500 schedule snapshot

Filing strip 741563240 · Southwest Airlines Company PY 2023 · 401(k)

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan · $9.1B · 9,726 · 100th

  • BOOK $9.1B
  • BOOK 9,726
  • BOOK 100th
  • BOOK 401(k)
  • BOOK near Advocate Aurora Health 401(k) Plan
  • BOOK ind #3348

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 Pilots Retirement Savings Plan in the asset neighbourhood

The Travelers 401(k) Savings PlanThe Travelers 401(k) Savings…$9.2BSouthwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings PlanSouthwest Airlines Pilots Re…$9.1BAdvocate Aurora Health 401(k) PlanAdvocate Aurora Health 401(k…$9.1BMcKinsey & Company, Inc. (Psrp) Profit Sharing Retirement PlanMcKinsey & Company, Inc. (Ps…$9.1BNokia Savings/401(k) Plan$9.1B
End-of-year total assets ($B) among Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan and nearest nationwide 401(k) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023.

Texas filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$7.6B
Net Assets (End of Year)$9.1B
Net Income$1.6B
Employer EIN741563240
Plan Effective Date1986-01-01
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (Southwest Airlines Company)

Sponsor-wide plan assets over time

All Southwest Airlines Company plans reported in each filing year

Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
$28.7B 37.33380234491332% vs 2022
2024 filing year
$20B$25B$30B 202220232024 $20.9B $28.7B ▲ +37.3%
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.

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan vs. nearby 401(k) plans in Texas, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 050000100000150000 01020304050 Total assets ($B) Participants Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.14238951 · Participants: 9726Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings PlanAT&T Retirement Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 40.012012 · Participants: 119854AT&T Retirement Savings PlanExxonmobil Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 21.917 · Participants: 23477Exxonmobil Savings PlanCaterpillar 401(k) Savings Plan, Total assets ($B): 16.496476432 · Participants: 41679Caterpillar 401(k) Savings PlanAmerican Airlines, Inc. 401(k) Plan, Total assets ($B): 14.680189879 · Participants: 88792American Airlines, Inc. 401(k) PlanDell Inc. 401(k) Plan, Total assets ($B): 13.529835 · Participants: 45686Dell Inc. 401(k) Plan
Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan vs. nearby 401(k) plans in Texas, assets vs. participants
Compare Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan reports $9.1B in end-of-year assets across 9,726 participants (0.074% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.010% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $939,995 per participant (6.8x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $1.6B.

This plan identity (EIN 741563240, plan #003) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $7.6B to $11.6B (+53.3%) while covered participants moved from 9,186 to 11,242 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 9,186 $7.6B Open filing
2023 9,726 $9.1B This page
2024 · index core 11,242 $11.6B Open filing

The same sponsor also keeps 3 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan's out-of-state 401(k) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Texas, the nearest 401(k) by assets is Advocate Aurora Health 401(k) Plan in WI ($9.1B); by covered participants it is Marsh & Mclennan Agency 401(k) Savings & Investment Plan in NY (9,739 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Closest by plan assets

Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($9.1B here).

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (9,726 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan assets move in 2023? ▼
Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan grew sharply - up 20.6% during 2023, from $7.6B to $9.1B. Reported net income was $1.6B.
How have Southwest Airlines Company plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Southwest Airlines Company's sponsor-wide assets grew 37.3%, from $20.9B to $28.7B.
Where does Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan ranks in the 100th percentile by end-of-year assets among 127,072 plans that reported assets for plan year 2023 (among the largest 1% of all filed plans).
Which 401(k) plans are similar in size to Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan? ▼
Among 401(k) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Advocate Aurora Health 401(k) Plan in WI ($9.1B, 76,956 participants).
Which 401(k) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan? ▼
Among 401(k) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Marsh & Mclennan Agency 401(k) Savings & Investment Plan in NY (9,739 participants, $1.2B in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2023.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 741563240.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA). See our methodology for details.