Airline pay · 2026

Southwest Airlines Pilot Pay 2026

Base salary by year of experience for Southwest Airlines pilots, with estimated take-home pay. Figures reflect reported 2026 compensation.

Southwest Airlines Captain base salary by year

Take-home estimate assumes a Texas domicile (no state income tax) and federal tax only. Your state changes this figure.

Southwest Airlines pilots start at roughly $320,640 in their first year and reach around $240,960 by year 10, based on reported base salary for 2026. That represents about 169% growth over the career range shown here, driven largely by contractual seniority steps rather than individual negotiation.

Base salary is only part of the picture at Southwest Airlines. Total compensation for a line pilot also includes 401(k) contributions, profit sharing, and per diem for time away from base — none of which appear in the base figure above. Take-home pay depends heavily on the state a pilot files taxes in, since a pilot domiciled in a no-income-tax state keeps meaningfully more than a colleague on the same pay scale in a high-tax state.

The figures here reflect base salary before those add-ons and before federal and state tax. Use the pay explorer to layer in Southwest Airlines's full compensation structure, model a specific home state, and compare year-by-year take-home against other carriers.