Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024

Southwest Airlines Co. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$41M
Total assets Below avg plan size
9,612
Participants Very large workforce
82nd
Percentile by assets National rank
$4,244
Avg per participant Low balance/head
PlainRetire home → About this data RSS: change history

Official DOL plan name: Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan · Sponsored by Southwest Airlines Co. · Texas · Transportation & Warehousing

$41M in assets, 9,612 participants

Southwest Airlines Co.'s Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan reported $41M in total assets and 9,612 participants in its 2024 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 82nd 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.

  • #2,653 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)

Coverage in Texas

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan covers 9,612 participants in Texas, 14x the typical Texas plan (state average ~688 per filing). Assets: $41M.

#2,653
in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
$41M
reported net income
0.4×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan's outsized position by total assets

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2024 · DOL Form 5500

$40,791,146 Top 18% higher than 82% of 123,620 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 2024

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan's large-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2024 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan lands in the large band (9,612 participants).

Plan-year Form 5500 strip

Filing strip 741563240 · Southwest Airlines Co. PY 2024 · Defined Benefit (Pension)

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan · $41M · 9,612 · 82nd

  • EOY $41M
  • EOY 9,612
  • EOY 82nd
  • EOY Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • EOY near Alside Retirement Plan
  • EOY ind #2653

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 Market-Based Cash Balance Plan in the asset neighbourhood

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated Pension PlanLeggett & Platt, Incorporate…$41MSouthwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance PlanSouthwest Airlines Market-Ba…$41MAlside Retirement Plan$41MCoorstek, Inc. Retirement PlanCoorstek, Inc. Retirement Pl…$41MGroup Pension Plan for Hourly Employees of Keystone Powdered Metal CoGroup Pension Plan for Hourl…$41M
End-of-year total assets ($M) among Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024.

Texas filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)N/A
Net Assets (End of Year)$41M
Net Income$41M
Employer EIN741563240
Plan Effective Date2024-01-01
Filing StatusFILING 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
$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 Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in Texas

Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Texas, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 020000400006000080000100000120000 -100102030 Total assets ($B) Participants Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.040791146 · Participants: 9612Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance PlanAT&T Pension Benefit Plan, Total assets ($B): 28.265893 · Participants: 100400AT&T Pension Benefit PlanExxonmobil Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 12.095 · Participants: 22000Exxonmobil Pension PlanChevron Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.731784707 · Participants: 21297Chevron Retirement PlanShell Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.694184685 · Participants: 12688Shell Pension PlanCaterpillar Inc. Retirement Income Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.1940497 · Participants: 11498Caterpillar Inc. Retirement Income Plan
Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Texas, assets vs. participants
Compare Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Texas, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Alside Retirement Plan in OH ($41M); by covered participants it is GE Aerospace Pension Plan in OH (9,637 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (9,612 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How have Southwest Airlines Co. plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Southwest Airlines Co.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 37.3%, from $20.9B to $28.7B.
Where does Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan ranks in the 82nd percentile by end-of-year assets among 123,622 plans that reported assets for plan year 2024 (in the top quartile of all filed plans by assets).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans are similar in size to Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Alside Retirement Plan in OH ($41M, 84 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Southwest Airlines Market-Based Cash Balance Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is GE Aerospace Pension Plan in OH (9,637 participants, $19.0B in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2024.

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.