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NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS (Policies)
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Accounting Standards Update and Change in Accounting Principle [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation The unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the interim periods ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 include all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods. This includes all normal and recurring adjustments and elimination of significant intercompany transactions. Financial results for the Company and airlines in general can be seasonal in nature. In many years, the Company's revenues, as well as its Operating income and Net income, have been better in its second and third fiscal quarters than in its first and fourth fiscal quarters. However, beginning in early 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company's results have not always been in line with such historical trends. See Note 2 for further information. Air travel is also significantly impacted by general economic conditions, the amount of disposable income available to consumers and changes in consumer behavior, unemployment levels, corporate travel budgets, global pandemics such as COVID-19, extreme or severe weather and natural disasters, fears of terrorism or war, governmental actions, and other factors beyond the Company's control. These and other factors, such as the price of jet fuel in some periods, the nature of the Company's fuel hedging program, and the periodic volatility of commodities used by the Company for hedging jet fuel, have created, and may continue to create, significant volatility in the Company's financial results. See Note 4 for further information on fuel and the Company's hedging program. Operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for future quarters or for the year ended December 31, 2021. For further information, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.
New Accounting Pronouncements
On May 3, 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "FASB") issued ASU 2021-04, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt—Modifications and Extinguishments (Subtopic 470-50), Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Issuer’s Accounting for Certain Modifications or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options. This new standard provides clarification and reduces diversity in an issuer’s accounting for modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options (such as warrants) that remain equity classified after modification or exchange. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Issuers should apply the new standard prospectively to modifications or exchanges occurring after the effective date of the new standard. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. If an issuer elects to early adopt the new standard in an interim period, the guidance should be applied as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is evaluating this new standard, but does not expect it to have a material impact on the Company's financial statements or disclosures.

On January 7, 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848). This new standard provides optional temporary guidance for entities transitioning away from London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") to new reference interest rates so that derivatives affected by the discounting transition are explicitly eligible for certain optional expedients and exceptions with Topic 848. These amendments do not apply to any contract modifications made after December 31, 2022, any new hedging relationships entered into after December 31, 2022, or to existing hedging relationships evaluated for effectiveness existing as of December 31, 2022, that apply certain optional practical expedients. This standard is effective immediately and may be applied (i) on a full retrospective basis as of any date from the beginning of an interim period that includes or is subsequent to March 12, 2020, or (ii) on a prospective basis to new modifications from any date within an interim period that includes or is subsequent to the date of the issuance of a final update, up to the date that financial statements are available to be issued. The Company is currently evaluating its contracts that reference LIBOR and the potential impacts of applying the optional temporary guidance under this standard. There were no material LIBOR-related contract modifications during the six months ended June 30, 2021, and the Company will provide additional information about the transition to new reference rates for affected contracts and adoption of this standard at a future date, if material.
On August 5, 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. This new standard reduces the number of accounting models for convertible debt instruments and convertible preferred stock, enhances information transparency by making targeted improvements to the disclosures for convertible instruments and earnings-per-share (EPS) guidance, and amends the guidance for the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity’s own equity to reduce form-over-substance-based accounting conclusions. This standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. The Company plans to adopt this standard as of January 1, 2022. Upon adoption, the Company will reclassify the remaining equity component from Additional paid-in capital to Long-term debt associated with its convertible notes, and no longer record amortization of the debt discount to Interest expense. The computation of diluted net income (loss) per share will be affected in the numerator as the Company will no longer record the debt discount amortization in Interest expense and may have to add back Interest expense to the numerator. The denominator could also be affected as the Company will be required to use the if-converted method to calculate diluted shares.
Derivatives
The Company has used financial derivative instruments for both short-term and long-term timeframes, and primarily uses a mixture of purchased call options, collar structures (which include both a purchased call option and a sold put option), call spreads (which include a purchased call option and a sold call option), put spreads (which include a purchased put option and a sold put option), and fixed price swap agreements in its portfolio. Although the use of collar structures and swap agreements can reduce the overall cost of hedging, these instruments carry more risk than purchased call options in that the Company could end up in a liability position when the collar structure or swap agreement settles. With the use of purchased call options and call spreads, the Company cannot be in a liability position at settlement, but does not have coverage once market prices fall below the strike price of the purchased call option.

For the purpose of evaluating its net cash spend for jet fuel and for forecasting its future estimated jet fuel expense, the Company evaluates its hedge volumes strictly from an "economic" standpoint and thus does not consider whether the hedges have qualified or will qualify for hedge accounting. The Company defines its "economic" hedge as the net volume of fuel derivative contracts held, including the impact of positions that have been offset through sold positions, regardless of whether those contracts qualify for hedge accounting. The level at which the Company is economically hedged for a particular period is also dependent on current market prices for that period, as well as the types of derivative instruments held and the strike prices of those instruments. For example, the Company may enter into "out-of-the-money" option contracts (including "catastrophic" protection), which may not generate intrinsic gains at settlement if market prices do not rise above the option strike price. Therefore, even though the Company may have an economic hedge in place for a particular period, that hedge may not produce any hedging gains at settlement and may even produce hedging losses depending on market prices, the types of instruments held, and the strike prices of those instruments.
Upon proper qualification, the Company accounts for its fuel derivative instruments as cash flow hedges. Qualification is re-evaluated quarterly, and all periodic changes in fair value of the derivatives designated as hedges are recorded in AOCI until the underlying jet fuel is consumed. See Note 5.If a derivative ceases to qualify for hedge accounting, any change in the fair value of derivative instruments since the last reporting period would be recorded in Other (gains) losses, net, in the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss) in the period of the change; however, any amounts previously recorded to AOCI would remain there until such time as the original forecasted transaction occurs, at which time these amounts would be reclassified to Fuel and oil expense. Factors that have and may continue to lead to the loss of hedge accounting include: significant fluctuation in energy prices, significant weather events affecting refinery capacity and the production of refined products, and the volatility of the different types of products the Company uses in hedging. Increased volatility in these commodity markets for an extended period of time, especially if such volatility were to worsen, could cause the Company to lose hedge accounting altogether for the commodities used in its fuel hedging program, which would create further volatility in the Company’s GAAP financial results. However, even though derivatives may not qualify for hedge accounting, the Company continues to hold the instruments as management believes derivative instruments continue to afford the Company the opportunity to stabilize jet fuel costs. When the Company has sold derivative positions in order to effectively "close" or offset a derivative already held as part of its fuel derivative instrument portfolio, any subsequent changes in fair value of those positions are marked to market through earnings. Likewise, any changes in fair value of those positions that were offset by entering into the sold positions and were de-designated as hedges are concurrently marked to market through earnings. However, any changes in value related to hedges that were deferred as part of AOCI while designated as a hedge would remain until the originally forecasted transaction occurs. In a situation where it becomes probable that a fuel hedged forecasted transaction will not occur, any gains and/or losses that have been recorded to AOCI would be required to be immediately reclassified into earnings.The Company is party to certain interest rate swap agreements that are accounted for as cash flow hedges, and has in the past held interest rate swap agreements that have qualified as fair value hedges, as defined in the applicable accounting guidance for derivative instruments and hedging. Several of the Company's interest rate swap agreements qualify for the "shortcut" method of accounting for hedges, which dictates that the hedges were assumed to be perfectly effective at origination, and, thus, there was no ineffectiveness to be recorded in earnings.
Fair Value Measurements
Accounting standards pertaining to fair value measurements establish a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets; Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company held certain items that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. These included cash equivalents, short-term investments (primarily treasury bills and certificates of deposit), interest rate derivative contracts, fuel derivative contracts, and available-for-sale securities. The majority of the Company’s short-term investments consist of instruments classified as Level 1. However, the Company has certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and time deposits that are classified as Level 2, due to the fact that the fair value for these instruments is determined utilizing observable inputs in non-active markets. Other available-for-sale securities primarily consist of investments in equity securities with readily determinable market values associated with the Company’s excess benefit plan.

The Company’s fuel and interest rate derivative instruments consist of over-the-counter contracts, which are not traded on a public exchange. Fuel derivative instruments currently consist solely of option contracts, whereas interest rate derivatives consist solely of swap agreements. See Note 4 for further information on the Company’s derivative instruments and hedging activities. The fair values of swap contracts are determined based on inputs that are readily available in public markets or can be derived from information available in publicly quoted markets. Therefore, the Company has categorized these swap contracts as Level 2. The Company’s Treasury Department, which reports to the Chief Financial Officer, determines the value of option contracts utilizing an option pricing model based on inputs that are either readily available in public markets, can be derived from information available in publicly quoted markets, or are provided by financial institutions that trade these contracts. The option pricing model used by the Company is an industry standard model for valuing options and is a similar model used by the broker/dealer community (i.e., the Company’s counterparties). The inputs to this option pricing model are the option strike price, underlying price, risk free rate of interest, time to expiration, and volatility. Because certain inputs used to determine the fair value of option contracts are unobservable (principally implied volatility), the Company has categorized these option contracts as Level 3. Volatility information is obtained from external sources, but is analyzed by the Company for reasonableness and compared to similar information received from other external sources. The fair value of option contracts considers both the intrinsic value and any remaining time value associated with those derivatives that have not yet settled. The Company also considers counterparty credit risk and its own credit risk in its determination of all estimated fair values. To validate the reasonableness of the Company’s option pricing model, on a monthly basis, the Company compares its option valuations to third party valuations. If any significant differences were to be noted, they would be researched in order to determine the reason. However, historically, no significant differences have been noted. The Company has consistently applied these valuation techniques in all periods presented and believes it has obtained the most accurate information available for the types of derivative contracts it holds.

Included in Other available-for-sale securities are the Company’s investments associated with its deferred compensation plans, which consist of mutual funds that are publicly traded and for which market prices are readily available. These plans are non-qualified deferred compensation plans designed to hold contributions in excess of limits established by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The distribution timing and payment amounts under these plans are made based on the participant’s distribution election and plan balance. Assets related to the funded portions of the deferred compensation plans are held in a rabbi trust, and the Company remains liable to these participants for the unfunded portion of the plans. The Company records changes in the fair value of plan obligations and plan assets, which net to zero, within the Salaries, wages, and benefits line and Other (gains) losses line, respectively, of the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Revenue Recognition
Recognition of revenue associated with the Company’s loyalty liability can be difficult to predict, as the number of award seats available to members is not currently restricted and they could choose to redeem their points at any time that a seat is available. The performance obligations classified as a current liability related to the Company’s loyalty program were estimated based on expected redemptions utilizing historical redemption patterns, and forecasted flight availability, fares, and coefficients. The entire balance classified as Air traffic liability—noncurrent relates to
loyalty points that were estimated to be redeemed in periods beyond the twelve-months following the representative balance sheet date. Based on historical experience as well as current forecasted redemptions, the Company expects the majority of loyalty points to be redeemed within approximately two years of the date the points are issued.
The Company has a co-branded credit card agreement (the “Agreement”) with Chase Bank USA, N.A. (“Chase”), through which the Company sells loyalty points and certain marketing components, which consist of the use of the brand and access to Rapid Rewards Member lists, licensing and advertising elements, and the use of the Company’s resource team. In 2018, Chase and Southwest executed a multi-year extension of the Agreement, extending the decades-long relationship between the parties. The Company recognized revenue related to the marketing, advertising, and other travel-related benefits of the revenue associated with various loyalty partner agreements including, but not limited to, the Agreement with Chase, within Other operating revenues.