Southwest Airlines Employee Reviews about "work life balance"
80% would recommend to a friend
(176 total reviews)
Robert E. Jordan
77% approve of CEO
Found 176 of over 5K reviews
Updated Dec 4, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Flight benefits are great if you're the kind of person who loves to travel with no guarantees." (in 242 reviews)
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Reviews about "work life balance"
Return to all Reviews- 3.0Feb 14, 2018Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Good 401k match, health insurance and profitsharing.
Cons
Ground operations is very overlooked in the company. All the pressure on metrics but none of the 'culture' that is seen at HQ and in the call-centers. Benefits are nice but waking up at 2am and having tons of mandatory over-time does not make for a good work life balance no matter the benefits of the company.
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Southwest Airlines Response6yThank you for sharing your experience and your feedback. Working the Ramp is certainly hard work, and it’s not for everyone! We are so fortunate to have such a longstanding unique Culture, and we all must work hard to protect it. Ultimately, it’s up to every Employee to promote and preserve our Culture across positions, workgroups, and titles. Thank you for the hard work you put in—it does not go unnoticed, and we couldn’t do it without you!
- 5.0Mar 7, 2022Customer Service AgentCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsDenver, CO
Pros
Amazing culture Supportive Leadership team
Cons
Challenging durng irregular operations Unexpected overtime and hard to establish a work life balance
- 3.0Dec 28, 2022Customer Support and Service RepresentativeFormer Employee, less than 1 yearSan Antonio, TX
Pros
Flight Benefits Insurance Work From Home
Cons
Shift Hours Outdated Systems Mandatory Overtime Training Locked into a minimum year with CS&S before transfer No Work Life Balance
1 - 2.0Aug 10, 2014Operations AgentCurrent Employee, more than 3 years
Pros
Can trade hours/shifts as much as you want; flexibility to travel for free if there are any open seats; can relocate to other departments or stations
Cons
Leadership is terrible...improperly trained or off the street (supervisors); corporate leadership is cheap trying not to give raises & short staffing the company in many departments & stations. Employees are overworked especially if they have junior seniority. Work/life balance is terrible...you literally don't have a life because you are always working. Scheduled hours don't mean anything because right when you think you're about to leave & go home...you have been 'mandoed' to work more hours or a whole shift which puts you into a double now...spending anywhere from 17-21 hours at work without leaving. Oh yeah....and you think you have two days off....NOPE! You always get mandoed to work on your first day off so now you only get one day off a week. And if you refuse the mando...the company wants to terminate you so that they can most likely in the future replace you with cheaper labor.
3 - 5.0May 2, 2021Instructional DesignerCurrent EmployeeDallas, TX
Pros
Team and culture Support and work/life balance Benefits
Cons
Low pay Very hard to ever get management level
- 2.0Jul 16, 2023Customer Support and ServicesCurrent Employee
Pros
Medical Flight benefits Flight benefits
Cons
No work life balance they always speak about us as family but soon as a problem rises you are treated trash
1 - 5.0Apr 5, 2023Sr. National Account ManagerCurrent EmployeeDallas, TX
Pros
Southwest is a great company to work for and has a fantastic brand. The people are fantastic and love the mission and values behind the company.
Cons
Work life balance and competing priorities
- 3.0Jul 13, 2013Internal Auditor IICurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsDallas, TX
Pros
Very flexible and and offers a great work/life balance program Very rich in company culture and family feel Employees are some of the greatest people you will ever meet Great benefits* low insurance costs
Cons
Salaries aren't as competitive due to flight benefits Flight benefits aren't worth lower compensation because they are standby and flight loads are always full. Very hard to progress into roles that are management and above Working on diversity issues but there are not many minorities in Management. Does not support affinity groups to retain or recruit diverse talent Politics seems to play too much of a role in career progression Too much emphasis on culture 75% unionized
1 - 4.0Apr 20, 2023Flight AttendantCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearOrlando, FL
Pros
401K Amazing passengers. They are so understanding for the most part during operational issues. Commenting Policy is wonderful. Truly does care about you making it to work on time. Coworkers are wonderful to work with and truly do care about each other for be most part. There are some bad apples out there but that is most jobs. BEST schedule ever. So flexible and does create a true work life balance
Cons
Lack of communication between Inflight and company. Current managers don’t always necessarily communicate when it’s needed.
- 5.0Apr 15, 2022Customer Service RepresentativeFormer Employee, more than 5 years
Pros
Excellent comapny with union to support employees Great flying benefits for family and friends of employees
Cons
Often caused burnouts with long hours and poor work life balance
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