Bases, pay, training, hiring windows and the interview process — from dated sources.
Last updated August 2026 — dated facts carry their own as-of dates below.
Southwest is the all-737 carrier headquartered at Dallas Love Field (803 aircraft), in the middle of the biggest identity transformation in its history: bag fees since May 28, 2025 ($35/$45), a Basic fare tier, red-eye flights since February 2025, and — after roughly 54 years — the end of open seating, with assigned-seat operations live since January 27, 2026. If your mental model of Southwest interview answers was built on "bags fly free" and "pick any seat you want," it is now actively wrong (see Culture below).
Hiring-window status (as of August 2026): CLOSED — and structurally so. Southwest hires FAs only in rare, unannounced, capped "flash" windows:
The structural reason: Southwest currently has more flight attendants than its schedule needs. In June 2026 TWU Local 556 signed a Letter of Agreement creating a voluntary one-month unpaid Time Away Program (TAP), biddable August 2026 through April 2027. An airline running voluntary unpaid leave is not about to run new-hire classes. Next external window: unlikely before late 2026, possibly 2027. The TAP program's April 2027 end date is the earliest structural signal to watch for a thaw.
Don't over-read the negative, though: Southwest has not laid off flight attendants (the ~1,750 cuts in February 2025 were corporate/HQ roles), the 2024 contract raises were real and top-of-industry at ratification, and demand for these jobs is enormous — 5,000 external applications in 38 minutes. Hiring is paused, not abolished.
Requirements verbatim from the careers page (live even while the window is closed; checked August 1, 2026): "Must be at least 20 years of age at the time of application"; "Must have authorization to work in the United States"; "Must possess a valid, unexpired passport"; high school diploma or GED required (college preferred). No numeric height rule — the physical requirements are functional: lift/lower up to 20 pounds unassisted (up to 100 assisted), reach above your head with arms fully extended, squat to the ground, "perform an emergency water evacuation," and "fit quickly through the overwing window exit." No bilingual-designated FA program is advertised, unlike Delta/United/American.
The careers page lists 13 FA locations: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago (Midway), Dallas, Denver, Houston (Hobby), Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Oakland, Orlando, and Phoenix. Known discrepancy: Southwest announced closure of the Austin and Fort Lauderdale FA satellite bases effective July 1, 2025, yet the careers page still listed Austin as of August 2026 — the careers list is likely stale. The safest framing is roughly 12 main crew bases post-July 2025.
New hires are historically assigned where staffing needs exist — often Chicago-Midway, Baltimore, or Denver — not where they prefer. The 2025 base closures folded displaced FAs back into remaining bases, which adds to the staffing surplus and is part of why hiring is frozen.
Southwest pays flight attendants by the TFP ("trip") — a legacy pay unit equal to 243 nautical miles — not by the hour. Do not convert Southwest's per-trip rate directly against Delta/United hourly rates without understanding this.
From the careers page (August 2026) and the 2024 contract:
Reserve: new hires go to reserve at their assigned base per seniority norms — but no verbatim current reserve-rules text is publicly verifiable, so treat any specific claims about Southwest reserve mechanics (rotating vs. straight reserve, minimum guarantees) as unverified. What is current, sourced friction: Southwest moved FA report/boarding times earlier in 2026 in response to the carry-on crush from bag fees, without extra pay for the added ground time — TWU 556 publicly objected.
Southwest Airlines requires flight attendants to be at least 20 at application, hold a high school diploma or GED, and possess a valid passport; no published height minimum.
Requirements change between hiring windows — confirm them on the Southwest Airlines careers page before you apply.
Data compiled from airline careers pages, union publications, industry press, and candidate-reported interview intel — wave-dependent facts carry as-of dates. Candidate reports are unofficial; confirm requirements on the airline's own careers site.