Laid off from Southwest Airlines.
Southwest went 53 years without a mass layoff, then cut 15% of corporate in one February morning. When the most famously no-layoffs company in America finally did it, the details were better than most, and the precedent worse.
At a glance
What's known about Southwest Airlines severance and layoffs
- About 1,750 roles, 15% of corporate positions · Southwest's February 2025 reduction
- First mass layoff in 53 years · Southwest's layoff record before 2025
- $62 million recorded, first quarter 2025 · Southwest's severance charge, as filed
- Salary and benefits into April 2025 · Southwest pay continuation, 2025 round
- About 75 roles, no notice in our tracker · Southwest's May 2026 restructuring
- 107 jobs, Chicago, March 2026 · Newest Southwest filing in our tracker
- About 84%, company filing · Southwest employees under union contracts
Recent Southwest Airlines layoffs
Southwest cut about 75 more roles in May 2026
The newest Southwest round on record is a small one. The company confirmed on 15 May 2026 that it had cut about 75 roles in what it called an operational restructuring, said those displaced could interview for open positions, and the reporting we track records no WARN notice for it. The newest filing our tracker holds is larger, a March 2026 Illinois notice covering 107 jobs as Southwest said it would stop serving Chicago O'Hare following 4 June 2026.
Previous rounds
Southwest Airlines layoff history
On 17 February 2025 Southwest told about 1,750 people their roles were going. The company had committed to the reduction on 5 February and aimed it almost entirely at corporate overhead and leadership positions, about 15% of corporate roles including senior leadership and directors, with eleven positions at vice president level and above eliminated. Bob Jordan called the decision unprecedented in the company's 53-year history, and told employees that the growth of Leadership and Noncontract functions had outpaced the operation's growth for many years. Eligible people kept salary and benefits until April, then got severance pay and help finding new jobs, and separations were substantially complete by the end of June.
The bill landed near the bottom of the range Southwest set for itself. The announcement put the one-time charge at $60 million to $80 million, substantially all severance and post-employment benefits, and the 2025 annual report recorded $62 million, booked as $53 million in salaries, wages and benefits and $9 million in other operating expenses. Southwest describes that total as severance payments and related professional fees together, which is why it doesn't divide cleanly into a figure per person. The filing says it was substantially paid out across the first half of 2025, with nothing left on the balance sheet at year end. The company had estimated $210 million of 2025 savings and $300 million for 2026, and now reports about $230 million achieved and about $310 million estimated.
Southwest described the round as focused almost entirely on corporate overhead and leadership positions. Against that, about 84% of Southwest employees worked under union contracts at the end of 2025, across twelve represented workgroups that have each ratified a new agreement since October 2022, and the largest of them are big, roughly 21,200 flight attendants under TWU Local 556, 17,600 ramp and operations employees under TWU Local 555, 10,300 pilots under SWAPA, and 6,800 customer service agents under IAM 142. The day after the announcement the pilots' union said its agreement carries notification requirements for personnel actions affecting pilots, that none had been triggered, and that it stood ready to defend those provisions if needed. It also said it was saddened by the cuts at headquarters, and that while it had been critical of efficiency there, this hit its own coworkers.
What has followed is smaller and more specific. Southwest confirmed on 15 May 2026 that it had cut about 75 roles in what it called an operational restructuring, saying it was giving those displaced the chance to interview for new and current open positions, and the reporting we track records no WARN notice for it. Two months earlier the airline said it would stop flying from Chicago O'Hare after 4 June 2026 and told affected employees they could bid for open positions across its network, including at Midway; an Illinois WARN report put 107 jobs behind that decision. Before either, in November 2024, it had offered a voluntary separation program across 18 airports and select headquarters positions to union and nonunion workers alike.
Through the end of the first quarter of 2026, the headcount ran the other way. It rose by 340, or 0.5%, across 2025, the year of the reduction, and the first quarter of 2026 closed with 73,401 active full-time equivalent employees, up 2.7% year over year, on record first-quarter operating revenue of $7.2 billion. Our tracker holds 43 Southwest filings all-time and one since the start of 2025, the Chicago notice covering 107 jobs, which the state records as a closure. A filing is a notice rather than a finished layoff, and Southwest withdrew the furloughs and layoffs behind an earlier wave of those notices in January 2021 after federal payroll support was extended. Those totals settle nothing about one person's exit. The paperwork you were handed does, so check its dates and what it asks you to give up before signing, and if a union represents your workgroup, ask what your own agreement requires the company to do before a job goes.
Reporting on previous Southwest Airlines layoff rounds
May 2026 · About 75 roles in what Southwest called an operational restructuring, with those displaced invited to interview for open positions, and no notice for it in our tracker
March 2026, Chicago O'Hare · 107 jobs in an Illinois WARN report, recorded in our tracker as a closure, after Southwest said it would stop serving the airport following 4 June 2026
Affected employees could bid for open positions across the network, including at Midway. No severance terms on record.
February 2025 · About 1,750 roles, 15% of corporate positions including senior leadership and directors, focused almost entirely on corporate overhead and leadership, with eleven positions at vice president level and above eliminated
Salary and benefits until April 2025, then severance pay and help finding new jobs, against a $62 million one-time expense the company later filed as severance and related professional fees
November 2024, voluntary · A Voluntary Separation Program across 18 airports and select headquarters positions, open to union and nonunion workers at the stations Southwest called most overstaffed
Severance, medical and dental coverage for a specified period, and travel privileges based on years of service, by the company's own description
How Southwest Airlines's layoffs compare to other companies
Southwest filed $62 million for the February 2025 round, substantially all severance payments and related professional fees, and described it as focused almost entirely on corporate overhead and leadership positions. About 84% of its employees worked under union contracts at the end of 2025. Whether your workgroup had one is worth knowing first.
What to do after being laid off from Southwest Airlines
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Southwest Airlines's biggest hubs: Texas, California, Illinois. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Southwest Airlines's hub states run: Texas, California, Illinois, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Southwest Airlines layoff and severance questions
What severance did Southwest pay in its first layoffs?
Eligible employees kept salary and benefits until April 2025 and then received severance pay and help finding new jobs. The company's 2025 annual report records a one-time expense of $62 million for the reduction, described as employee severance payments and related professional fees, so it covers advisers as well as people and gives no per-person figure. No formula, week count or per-person figure appears in the filings or the reporting we track. Southwest ran this round as notification first and separation months later, so the dates on your own paperwork matter, both the last day you were paid and any deadline on what you were asked to sign.
Were Southwest pilots and flight attendants affected?
Southwest described the February 2025 reduction as focused almost entirely on corporate overhead and leadership positions, and Bob Jordan framed it to employees as leaning out Leadership and Noncontract functions to better serve frontline employees. The day after the announcement the pilots' union said its contract's notification requirements for personnel actions affecting pilots hadn't been triggered, and that it was unaware of any intention to trigger them. The reporting we track carries no equivalent statement for flight attendants, and almost entirely is the company's own wording rather than a guarantee covering every represented job. About 84% of Southwest employees worked under union contracts at the end of 2025.
Is Southwest still laying people off in 2026?
In small numbers. Southwest confirmed on 15 May 2026 that it had cut about 75 roles in an operational restructuring and said those displaced could interview for open positions, with no WARN notice for it in the reporting we track. Separately, 107 jobs at Chicago O'Hare sat behind its decision to stop serving that airport after 4 June 2026. The company also told investors it plans to hold corporate headcount expense flat to 2025 levels through 2026 and to look for efficiencies in frontline teams.
How many WARN notices has Southwest filed?
Our tracker counts 43 filings for Southwest across every year it holds, and one since the start of 2025, the Chicago notice covering 107 jobs. A notice is a warning rather than a completed layoff, and Southwest withdrew the furloughs and layoffs behind an earlier wave of them in January 2021 once federal payroll support was extended through that March. Nothing in our tracker corresponds to the February 2025 reduction of about 1,750 roles.
Did Southwest lay off employees at O'Hare?
Yes. Southwest said in March 2026 that it would discontinue service at Chicago O'Hare after 4 June, and an Illinois WARN report showed 107 employees there being laid off from that date. It said affected employees could bid for open positions across its network, including at Midway. No severance terms for the shutdown appear in the reporting we track.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Southwest Airlines?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Southwest Airlines's biggest U.S. hubs are Texas, California, Illinois. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Southwest Airlines?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Southwest Airlines?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Southwest Airlines?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.