AirlineUnited StatesNorth AmericaSWA / WN
Registered as Southwest Airlines Co..
Verified 30 July 2026
Southwest Airlines is a large US low-cost carrier operating an all-Boeing 737 fleet on a point-to-point domestic network. It hires first officers directly for experienced pilots and also runs the Destination 225 degrees cadet pathway program for building qualifying hours.
Applications are made on Southwest Airlines's own site. SkyStudy never collects an application, a document or a fee.
What the operator asks for
Only what Southwest Airlines states publicly. "Not stated" means the operator does not publish that figure, not that there is no requirement, and never that the requirement is zero.
Any age, nationality, residency, height or vision criterion above is the operator's own stated criterion, quoted from its own page. Some such criteria are lawful where an operator recruits and unlawful elsewhere, including in the EU. SkyStudy reports them factually and does not adopt them as requirements of its own.
Every published profile is checked by hand against the operator's own careers page, and is flagged for a recheck 180 days after that check. Requirements change without notice, so confirm every figure on the operator's own careers page before you apply.
Contract type: Not stated. Do not assume direct employment; some operators contract through an agency or on a self-employed basis, which changes tax, sick pay and pension entirely.
Pay: Not stated on the operator's own page.
For what pilots earn by region and seat, with its own sources and dates, see the pilot salary guide. Those are market ranges, not an offer from this operator.
Not stated. This operator does not publish its selection stages, so nothing is listed here. A recruitment site claiming to know the stages is guessing, and so would we be.
Worth knowing
Provenance
Each entry is the sentence the value was read from, on the operator's own site. If a figure here is out of date, the quote is what to check it against.
licence.family
USA DOT/FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certificate.
careers.southwestair.commedicalClass
USA DOT/FAA First Class Medical Certificate and, if applicable, any necessary Special Issuance of a Medical Certificate (Authorization) or Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA)
careers.southwestair.comother
Preferred: 500 hours in a fixed-wing turbine aircraft or successfully completed all aspects of a Destination 225 pathway program
careers.southwestair.comother
Preferred: actively flying for two of the last five years
careers.southwestair.comSkyStudy covers all 13 EASA ATPL subjects with a question bank, explanations and an adaptive study plan. Free to start, no card needed.