401(k) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024
Southwest Airlines Co. 401(k) Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $17.0B
- Total assets Mega-plan scale
- 67,820
- Participants Very large workforce
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $250,542
- Avg per participant Above avg balance/head
Official DOL plan name: Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan · Sponsored by Southwest Airlines Co. · Texas · Transportation & Warehousing
$17.0B in assets, 67,820 participants
Southwest Airlines Co.'s Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan reported $17.0B in total assets and 67,820 participants in its 2024 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.
- #3,293 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
Coverage in Texas
Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan covers 67,820 participants in Texas, 99x the typical Texas plan (state average ~688 per filing). Assets: $17.0B.
- #3,293
- in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
- +72.2%
- assets growth YoY
- 170×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan's outsized position by total assets
Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan vs every filed plan by assets
End-of-year total assets · plan year 2024 · DOL Form 5500
$16,991,748,637 Highest reported value at or above every one of 123,620 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2024
Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan's mega-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 Co. Retirement Savings Plan is a mega filing (67,820 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2023 → plan year 2024
- Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan end-of-year assets rose from $9.9B in the plan year 2023 filing to $17.0B in the plan year 2024 filing.
- Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan reported net income fell from $1.9B in the plan year 2023 filing to $1.2B in the plan year 2024 filing.
- Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan reported participants rose from 60,657 in the plan year 2023 filing to 67,820 in the plan year 2024 filing.
DOL schedule card
Filing strip 741563240 · Southwest Airlines Co. PY 2024 · 401(k)
Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan · $17.0B · 67,820 · 100th
- PART $17.0B
- TYPE 67,820
- NET 100th
- BOOK 401(k)
- VS-ST near 401(k) Pension Plan
- BOY ind #3293
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. Retirement Savings Plan in the asset neighbourhood
Texas filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $9.9B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $17.0B |
| Net Income | $1.2B |
| 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 $43.1B · 109,889
- Exxonmobil Savings Plan $23.7B · 21,990
- Chevron Employee Savings Investment Plan $20.4B · 21,505
- Caterpillar 401(k) Savings Plan $18.8B · 43,873
- American Airlines, Inc. 401(k) Plan $16.2B · 93,397
Scale composition for Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan
Southwest Airlines Co. Retirement Savings Plan reports $17.0B in end-of-year assets across 67,820 participants (0.14% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.072% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $250,542 per participant (1.8x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2024 was $1.2B.
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 | Open filing |
| 2024 · index core | 67,820 | $17.0B | This page |
The same sponsor also keeps 2 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:
- 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. Retirement Savings Plan's out-of-state 401(k) peers by assets and headcount
Outside Texas, the nearest 401(k) by assets is 401(k) Pension Plan in VA ($16.8B); by covered participants it is Intermountain Health 401(k) Plan in UT (68,360 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($17.0B here).
- 401(k) Pension Plan (VA) $16.8B · 62,869
- United Airlines Pilot Retirement Account Plan (IL) $16.8B · 16,659
- Ford Motor Co. Savings and Stock Investment Plan for Salaried Employees (MI) $17.3B · 31,790
- Meta Platforms, Inc 401(k) Plan (CA) $16.5B · 51,434
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (67,820 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- Intermountain Health 401(k) Plan (UT) 68,360 · 540 off
- Accenture United States 401(k) Match and Savings Plan (IL) 66,965 · 855 off
- Fidelity Retirement Savings Plan (MA) 66,907 · 913 off
- Circle K Retirement Plan (AZ) 68,953 · 1,133 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.