401(k) Monitor

Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan

Southwest Airlines Company · Irving, TX · EIN 741563240 · Plan 003 · Form 5500 for plan year 2024

This is a pooled multiple-employer plan, so its participant and asset totals span many unrelated employers.

What Southwest Airlines put into the plan, per active participant

$43,037

Southwest Airlines Company put $43,037 into this plan for each of its 11,679 active participants in plan year 2024. That is the whole employer side, matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions and reallocated forfeitures together, because the Form 5500 reports them on one line, so it is not the match rate. This filing covers many unrelated employers under one plan, so the figure is an average across all of them rather than one employer's behaviour.

It is kept out of every peer group and takes no score.

What this figure cannot separate: how much Southwest Airlines pays, and how much it puts in

This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.

This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.

Source: Form 5500 filing for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, received by the DOL October 13, 2025 · DOL EFAST2 ↗

What the plan cost, per participant

$612.07

The plan paid $612.07 per participant in plan-paid administrative expenses in plan year 2024, more expensive than 100% of plans with 5,000+ participants. The middle plan of that size paid $54.84.

Why a plan this big pays less per person before anything else

Bigger plans pay less per head by construction, because the same negotiated bill divides across more people. That is why this ranking sits inside the plan's own size cohort and is never taken across all plans.

Schedule H reports only what came out of plan assets. Fees the sponsor pays directly, and fees taken inside fund expense ratios, never appear here, so this is a floor and not the all-in cost.

401(k) Monitor Score

Not scored

This is a pooled plan covering many unrelated employers, so its figures are averages across a client book. It takes no score, and it is kept out of every peer group so that it does not move anybody else's standing.

It keeps whichever of the two it does report, above. Nothing is filled in from an average, from another year or from another plan, because a two-part score computed on one part is a different measure wearing the same name.

What the score would read, on a filing that carries both: Where this plan stands against plans of its size and industry on two amounts its Form 5500 reports: employer money in per active person, and plan-paid cost per person. It reads no match formula, no vesting schedule and no fund lineup, because a Form 5500 states none of them.

On this page: where the match terms are stated · what to check next · every figure on the filing · fees itemised · the plans this one is ranked against · service providers

The match and vesting terms, from a Form 11-K

The match formula and the vesting schedule are stated in a Form 11-K, which is filed only by employers whose plan holds company stock. A Form 5500 reports neither.

What Southwest Airlines puts in

Not in public filings for this employer

We have no SEC Form 11-K for this employer, and the Form 5500 this page is built from does not report match terms.

Two places state the terms in full: your plan’s Summary Plan Description, which your employer must provide on request, and your recordkeeper’s site, which for this plan is Schwab Workplace ↗.

What you contribute to collect all of it

Not in public filings for this employer

The rate that collects the full match is part of the match formula, which a Form 5500 does not report.

Vesting score

Not scored

The vesting schedule is stated in a Form 11-K, and we have none for this employer.

A schedule this cannot read at whole-year anniversaries is left without a number rather than given a middle one.

The formula, the six-year window and a worked example

What the plan costs, against plans of its size

100th percentile

$612.07 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 100% of plans with 5,000+ participants.

What to check next

  • This filing is not about one employer

    One Form 5500 covers many unrelated employers here, so every figure on this page is an average across all of them. The match, the vesting schedule and the fees that apply to one worker are set by that worker’s own employer, and none of the three is stated in this filing.

  • What to ask about the fees

    This plan paid $612.07 per participant out of plan assets, more than 100% of plans with 5,000+ participants, where the middle plan paid $54.84. The filing does not say what the difference buys. Two questions put that to a benefits or HR team: what the recordkeeping and administration contract costs, and how much of it comes out of participant accounts rather than being paid by Southwest Airlines. The lines this total is made of are further down.

  • Your own numbers are not on this page

    Every figure here is the whole plan for plan year 2024, taken from one filing and divided by headcounts. Your own contribution rate, your balance and the fees taken from your account are on your recordkeeper’s site, which this filing names as Schwab Workplace ↗. What you may put in during a year is set by the IRS and not by the plan: this year’s limits ↗.

Key figures

From Schedule H of Form 5500 filing 20251013093926NAL0001622304001, plan year 2024.
Total plan assets, end of year$11,622,763,375
Net assets$11,622,763,375
Participants, beginning of year12,645
Of which active11,679
Plan typeMultiple employer
Size cohortThe peer group we rank fees against.5,000+ participants
Employer share of the money that went in, plan year 2024The rest came from employees, who put in $242,271,134. The share falls when employees save more, so a plan whose staff contribute heavily reads lower here through no act of the employer. It is printed as a fact and it is not part of the score.67%

Plan-paid administrative expenses

The plan paid $7,739,627 in administrative expenses in plan year 2024, across 12,645 participants: $612.07 per participant.

Contract administrator fees$468,894
Professional feesnot reported in filing
Investment management fees$6,898,898
Other administrative feesnot reported in filing

These are plan-paid expenses from Schedule H only. Fees the sponsor pays directly, and fees embedded in fund expense ratios, never appear here. This figure is a floor, not the all-in cost, and a low number is not “free”.

The plans this one is ranked against

Fees on this page are ranked against the 5,000+ participant cohort, where the median plan pays $54.84 per participant. The sponsor files from Texas, one of 4,254 plans on file there, at a median of $107.93 per participant. Its business code places the plan in transportation and logistics, one of 1,926 on file, which run to a median of $95.71.

Plans of a similar size in Texas

The plans nearest this one by participant count, out of 256 in its peer group. Cost per participant is each plan’s own Schedule H figure, and a filing that reported no administrative expenses says so instead of showing a zero.
PlanParticipantsCost per participant
The Daikin 401(k) PlanDaikin Comfort Technologies Manufacturing, L.P.13,043$58.90
Employer Flexible 401(k) PlanEmployer Flexible12,661$166.50
Jbp Co., Inc. 401(k) Savings PlanJ.B Poindexter & Co., Inc.12,632$44.99
Srs Distribution Inc. 401(k) PlanSrs Distribution Inc.12,417$66.81

Service providers (Schedule C)

Recordkeeper: Charles Schwab (as filed: “SCHWAB RETIREMENT PLAN SERVICES,INC”)

769 plans on file name Charles Schwab as their recordkeeper, at a median of $127.09 per participant.

Providers from Schedule C, Part 1, Item 2 of filing 20251013093926NAL0001622304001. Direct compensation is paid from plan assets. Amounts in USD.
ProviderService codesDirect comp. ($)Indirect comp. ($)
Smith Anglin Financial LLC50, 261,993,618not reported
Leading Edge50, 261,096,729not reported
Fisher Investments50, 26716,470not reported
Total Investment Management In50, 26521,575not reported
Schwab Retirement Plan Services,Inc.50, 64, 15371,728not reported
Mountain Capital Investment Ad50, 26301,994not reported
Symphony Risk Solutions, LLC50, 28258,306not reported
Charles Schwab And Co.,Inc.72, 62, 71, 59, 99, 50, 33206,0480
Act Wealth Management LLC50, 26194,716not reported
Callan Associates Inc.50, 2819,000not reported
Hamilton Capital LLC50, 26121,583not reported
Creative Planning LLC50, 2695,532not reported
Prudent Man Investment Managem50, 2693,933not reported
Stonebridge Capital Advisors L50, 2693,214not reported
Symphony Financial Ltd. Co50, 2680,713not reported
Allworth Financial Lp50, 2662,003not reported
White Wing Wealth Management L50, 2647,752not reported
Arista Wealth Management LLC50, 2644,370not reported
Brinker Capital Investments Ll50, 2642,761not reported
Abound Wealth Management LLC50, 2642,393not reported
Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC50, 2641,754not reported
Two West Capital Advisors LLC50, 2638,012not reported
Texas Bank And Trust Company50, 2636,294not reported
Capital Advisors Inc.50, 2635,474not reported
Providence Asset Mgmt LLC50, 2635,400not reported
Hightower Advisors LLC50, 2635,133not reported
Avion Wealth LLC50, 2634,213not reported
J V Bruni And Company50, 2634,125not reported
Financial Engines Advisors LLC50, 2633,720not reported
Envestnet Asset Management Inc.50, 2631,241not reported
Signature Investment Advisors50, 2631,225not reported
Bip Wealth LLC50, 2629,771not reported
Independent Financial Partners50, 2628,715not reported
Clear Sky Financial Lp50, 2628,330not reported
Wealthpoint Advisors LLC50, 2627,494not reported
Laurelhurst Asset Management L50, 2623,964not reported
Cap Partners LLC50, 2823,429not reported
Prosperitas Financial LLC50, 2622,024not reported
Hhm Wealth Advisors LLC50, 2621,630not reported
Compass Financial Mgmt LLC50, 2621,485not reported
Morningstar Investment Service50, 2621,260not reported
Zwj Investment Counsel Inc.50, 2621,006not reported
Weaver And Tidwell LLP50, 2820,600not reported
Whalen Wealth Management Inc.50, 2620,091not reported
Purpose Comprehensive Wealth50, 2619,724not reported
Aviator Financial Consulting L50, 2619,419not reported
Kingsview Wealth Management Ll50, 2618,195not reported
Cetera Investment Advisers LLC50, 2618,112not reported
Regal Investment Advisors LLC50, 2617,344not reported
Summit Global Investments LLC50, 2617,193not reported
Access Wealth Management Inc.50, 2616,654not reported
Corient Private Wealth LLC50, 2615,775not reported
Flexible Plan Investments Ltd50, 2615,634not reported
Diamond Head Financial Advisor50, 2615,077not reported
Johnson Wealth Inc.50, 2614,918not reported
Invest Smart USA Inc.50, 2614,719not reported
Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio50, 2614,347not reported
Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Ma50, 2614,241not reported
Farnam Financial LLC50, 2614,000not reported
Brookwood Investment Group LLC50, 2613,893not reported
Rcs Financial Planning LLC50, 2612,874not reported
Private Management Group Inc.50, 2612,716not reported
Madison Partners50, 2612,654not reported
Mai Capital Management LLC50, 2612,439not reported
Krane Financial Solutions LLC50, 2612,350not reported
Perigon Wealth Management LLC50, 2612,111not reported
Advisory Services Network LLC50, 2612,032not reported
Diversify Wealth Management Ll50, 2611,891not reported
Dynasty Wealth Management LLC50, 2611,219not reported
Lpl Financial LLC50, 2611,017not reported
Kondracki Advisory LLC50, 2610,463not reported
Van Hulzen Asset Management50, 2610,453not reported
Envision Financial Services &50, 2610,333not reported
Transform Wealth LLC50, 2610,149not reported
Harvard Avenue Consultants LLC50, 2610,032not reported
Islamorada Investment50, 269,996not reported
Waterloo Capital Lp50, 269,961not reported
Maloon Powers Pitre & Higgins50, 269,113not reported
Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC50, 268,641not reported
Asset Strategy Advisors LLC50, 268,477not reported
Webb Financial Group LLC50, 268,168not reported
Axxcess Wealth Management LLC50, 268,143not reported
Trajan Wealth LLC50, 267,937not reported
Westwind Capital50, 267,910not reported
Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC50, 267,858not reported
Falcon Wealth Planning Inc.50, 267,775not reported
Clark Wealth Partners LLC50, 267,707not reported
Fpc Investment Advisory Inc.50, 267,333not reported
Cortland Associates, Inc.50, 267,110not reported
Steelpeak Wealth LLC50, 266,886not reported
Allied Investment Advisors LLC50, 266,805not reported
Carlton Hofferkamp And Jenks W50, 266,369not reported
Gladstone Institutional Adviso50, 266,261not reported
Acr Alpine Capital Research Ll50, 265,927not reported
Mccartney Wealth Management Ll50, 265,836not reported
Prime Capital Investment Advis50, 265,500not reported
D.S. Brown Wealth Advisors LLC50, 265,487not reported
Berkshire Money Management Inc.50, 265,413not reported
O'Hagan Group Inc.50, 265,406not reported
Smartx Advisory Solutions LLC50, 265,197not reported

Source

DatasetDOL EFAST2 Form 5500 bulk data (FOIA)
Form year2024
Filing ACK_ID20251013093926NAL0001622304001
Dataset last refreshedJuly 28, 2026

Bulk dataset at askebsa.dol.gov ↗ · Look up the filing on EFAST2 ↗

Filings lag by design: a plan can file up to 9½ months after its year ends, so this is the newest data on file. Why filings lag

Cite this page

401(k) Monitor, "Southwest Airlines Pilots Retirement Savings Plan: Form 5500 facts", from DOL EFAST2 filing 20251013093926NAL0001622304001, plan year ended December 31, 2024.