Company profile
SEC EDGAR ↗- Industry
- Air Transportation, Scheduled
- Listed
- NYSE: LUV
- Incorporated
- TX
- Headquarters
- Dallas, TX
- Fiscal year end
- Dec 31
Financials
FY2025- Revenue
- $28.1B
- Net income
- $441.0M
- Total assets
- $29.1B
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Total assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $28.1B | $441.0M | $29.1B |
| FY2024 | $27.5B | $465.0M | $33.8B |
| FY2023 | $26.1B | $465.0M | $36.5B |
| FY2022 | $23.8B | $539.0M | $35.4B |
| FY2021 | $15.8B | $977.0M | $36.3B |
| FY2020 | $9.05B | −$3.07B | $34.6B |
Reported fiscal years from SEC filings (10-K) — SEC EDGAR ↗. Stratrix is a strategy publication, not a real-time financial data service.
The analyses
The Crisis Response · Decision Forks
Southwest's Pilots Told It the Bomb Was Ticking. It Went Off a Month Later.
In December 2022 Southwest canceled more than 16,700 flights and took an ~$800 million pre-tax hit. The story you heard was a winter storm. The real story: a decade-old technical-debt bomb the pilots' union publicly named one month before it detonated.
8 min
The Pricing Play · Business Model
Southwest's Cost Gap Funded the Low Fares — When It Closed, the Bag Fees Arrived
Southwest's average fare climbed to about $170 a seat — and in 2023 a rival CEO said that's 'not a particularly cheap airline.' The 2025-26 pivot to bag fees and assigned seats isn't a betrayal. It's what happens when the cost gap that funded the low fares finally closes.
8 min
The Reversal · Decision Forks
Southwest's Own Slides Proved Free Bags Was Worth Keeping. It Killed the Policy Anyway.
In September 2024 Southwest told investors that ending free bags would cost ~$1.8B a year in lost share against ~$1–1.5B in fee revenue — and promised bags fly free. Roughly five months later it broke the promise. The math never changed. The board did.
7 min