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Southwest Airlines

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Southwest Airlines

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Southwest Airlines Reviews

4.1

80% would recommend to a friend

(4236 total reviews)

CEO Robert E. Jordan

Robert E. Jordan

77% approve of CEO

Ratings by category

4.3

Diversity and Inclusion

4.2

Career Opportunities

4.2

Compensation and Benefits

4.1

Culture and Values

3.8

Work/Life Balance

3.6

Senior Management

Ratings distribution

5 stars

56%

4 stars

22%

3 stars

12%

2 stars

5%

1 star

5%

What people are saying about Southwest Airlines

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor

Pros
  • "They provide great benefits and lots of opportunuties(in 579 reviews)
  • "They care about their employees and have a great culture!(in 359 reviews)
  • "very friendly and great people to work with(in 263 reviews)
  • "Flight benefits are great if you're the kind of person who loves to travel with no guarantees.(in 238 reviews)
  • "The Perks!!! Free flights to anywhere in the U.S (they have also added Mexico recently).(in 103 reviews)
Cons
  • "pay is low at the beginning after a few yrs you will make decent amount of money(in 190 reviews)
  • "They have a record of poor management at local cities.(in 132 reviews)
  • "The only cons I can think of are the long hours and weather conditions at times.(in 76 reviews)
  • "Managers do not do reviews the same way(in 36 reviews)
  • "salaries are low and they try to sell travel/401k match to make up for it(in 33 reviews)
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Found 4,236 of over 5K reviews

Updated 3 Dec 2023

    1. 5.0
      FEATURED REVIEW
      26 Sept 2023
      Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee, more than 5 years
      Dallas, TX
      Recommend
      CEO Approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Southwest was my first job out of college, and I feel so fortunate to have found such a welcoming and encouraging company where I've been able to grow and develop personally and professionally. When first joining, there is *so* much to learn about our operation and culture, and how that sets us apart. From there, there are almost limitless opportunities to continue learning and lean in to our Culture - from taking company-facilitated development classes, to "days in the field", to helping plan our legendary Halloween festivities, to even finding ways to embrace Cohearts in the day-to-day. When you mix in the incredible health benefits, 401k contributions, workperks, profitsharing, education reimbursement, and traveling the world for free (or close to it!) - you really can't beat a company like Southwest. Very thankful for the opportunity to pilot my own career path and work with the very best people along the way!

      Cons

      Southwest has taken incredible strides to continue growing and leaning into opportunities to serve new communities/serve our existing communities even better - including our Employees! This growth can come with growing pains and a feeling of being "disconnected" - especially when it comes to maintaining a work:life balance and seeing the bigger picture of what we're doing There's work being done to keep us all connected through company updates, and make sure that we all know how important one another's roles are. It's been insightful to learn how other parts of the company work, and it really does take *all* of us to maintain that "family feeling."

      2
      1. 5.0
        5 Jan 2023
        Airline Pilot
        Former Employee
        London, England
        Recommend
        CEO Approval
        Business Outlook

        Pros

        very good paying job and very good people

        Cons

        there is nothing that is bad

      2. Join the Southwest Airlines team
        See Our Latest Jobs
        1. 4.0
          23 Aug 2023
          Airline Crew Management Systems Administrator
          Former Employee
          London, England
          Recommend
          CEO Approval
          Business Outlook

          Pros

          Good company to work for

          Cons

          Holiday for staff is slow

          1. 3.0
            1 Jun 2022
            Ramp Agent
            Former Employee, more than 3 years
            Recommend
            CEO Approval
            Business Outlook

            Pros

            Flight benefits - flying standby on other airlines for the cost of next to nothing Major flexibility - shift trading - practically making your own schedule

            Cons

            Union. I said it. Union. I never thought working with a bunch of entitled union members would be so draining. A union is beneficial when necessary however, the mentality it creates is something I've never experienced in my life. Grown men and women constantly complaining about getting moved from their bidded line to another, due to operational need. Senior agents getting upset because they got moved around due to operational need. We're still ramp agents no matter how long you've been with the company. If a senior agent is the last option they need to move, they should do it without complaining. We're there to work. Constant threats to grieve leadership because of petty issues well within the job and union limits. I'm serious y'all. I've never met so many middle-aged men and women crying about a job they decided to take. And the attitude of disrespecting their superiors because they know they have a union backing them... It's ugly. Not pretty at all. Y'all need to change y'all's mentality and have some understanding of the job YOU took. Bunch of cry babies. Have a good day. Respectfully.

            1
            1. 5.0
              31 May 2022
              Ramp Agent
              Current Employee, more than 5 years
              Recommend
              CEO Approval
              Business Outlook

              Pros

              Great place, great benefits and flexibility

              Cons

              Depends on the type of person you are

              1. 3.0
                13 Aug 2021
                IT Service Delivery Manager
                Current Employee
                London, England
                Recommend
                CEO Approval
                Business Outlook

                Pros

                Great perks of the job

                Cons

                Long hours and many challenges

                1. 5.0
                  1 Jun 2021
                  Rbvh
                  Former Employee
                  London, England
                  Recommend
                  CEO Approval
                  Business Outlook

                  Pros

                  fun and good environment plus we had fun memories

                  Cons

                  sad and depressing but I stuck through and made it work for the money

                  1. 4.0
                    17 Oct 2020
                    Customer Relations Representative
                    Former Employee
                    Recommend
                    CEO Approval
                    Business Outlook

                    Pros

                    Great people to work with, great starting point with swa

                    Cons

                    Taking vacation days was tough, got sick and was sent home by operations and got out on probation

                    1. 5.0
                      8 Nov 2020
                      Clinical Supervisor
                      Current Employee, more than 10 years
                      London, England
                      Recommend
                      CEO Approval
                      Business Outlook

                      Pros

                      I like it because it very good work

                      Cons

                      People will make you sad

                      1. 5.0
                        3 Dec 2020
                        Sales Assistant
                        Former Employee, more than 1 year
                        Recommend
                        CEO Approval
                        Business Outlook

                        Pros

                        Amazing place to work. Yes

                        Cons

                        Nothing was really wrong with it

                      Viewing 1 - 10 of 4,236 Reviews
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                      Southwest Airlines Reviews FAQs

                      Southwest Airlines has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5, based on over 4,773 reviews left anonymously by employees. 80% of employees would recommend working at Southwest Airlines to a friend and 71% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

                      According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Southwest Airlines employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.2 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Southwest Airlines. This rating has decreased by -2% over the last 12 months.

                      80% of Southwest Airlines employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Southwest Airlines 3.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 4.2 for career opportunities.

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                      Interview Tips

                      Feel free to post any interview questions you might be asked and I’ll help you compose an effective response :)

                      Cloud Performance Engineering Lead

                      Workday interview tips needed. The role I am applying to is a site reliability engineer role. I am not sure what to expect. Of course it’s a technical role so I do expect those questions. I am wondering if they go extra hard and how many rounds? I read somewhere that they do 5 rounds. Either way any tips are@welcome.

                      1
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                      Underwriter

                      I’m currently in the several round interview process with 4 companies at the moment the past 3 weeks. Would you keep applying to other companies or take a break until you hear something back? Starting to feel a little interview fatigued.

                      1
                      0 Comments

                      IT Specialist

                      Passed 2 interviews with a board of Education , waiting for HR to communicate but I don’t know how long it takes to wait and when I should give up and move on?? It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve done the 2 nd interview.

                      1
                      1 Comment

                      Glassdoor has 4,773 Southwest Airlines reviews submitted anonymously by Southwest Airlines employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Southwest Airlines is right for you.