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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Commitments The Company has contractual obligations and commitments primarily with regard to future purchases of aircraft, repayment of debt (see Note 7), and lease arrangements (see Note 8). During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company entered into supplemental agreements with The Boeing Company ("Boeing") relating to its contractual order book for -7 and -8 aircraft. The revised agreement, which extends the order book to 2031, supports the Company's growth and fleet modernization plans, while also providing significant flexibility to manage its fleet size, including opportunities to accelerate fleet modernization efforts if growth opportunities do not materialize. The Company received 86 -8 aircraft deliveries from Boeing in 2023 and retired 39 -700 aircraft. The Company retains significant flexibility to manage its fleet size, including opportunities to accelerate fleet modernization efforts if growth opportunities do not materialize. Boeing continues to experience delays in fulfilling its commitments with regards to delivery of certain MAX aircraft to the Company, as a result of both supply chain constraints as well as achieving FAA certification of one of its new aircraft types, the -7, for which Southwest expects to be the launch customer. During fourth quarter 2023, the Company exercised eight -7 options for delivery in 2025, accelerated one 2024 -8 firm order into 2023, converted and shifted three 2025 -7 firm orders to three 2024 -8 firm orders, and shifted an additional three 2025 -8 firm orders into 2024. Therefore, as of December 31, 2023, the Company had the following firm orders and options for future periods:
| The Boeing Company |  |  |  |  |
| -7 Firm Orders |  | -8 Firm Orders |  | -7 or -8 Options |  |  |  | Total |
2024 | 27 |  |  | 58 |  |  | — |  |  |  |  | 85 |  | (c)
2025 | 59 |  |  | — |  |  | 15 |  |  |  |  | 74 |  |
2026 | 59 |  |  | — |  |  | 26 |  |  |  |  | 85 |  |
2027 | 19 |  |  | 46 |  |  | 25 |  |  |  |  | 90 |  |
2028 | 15 |  |  | 50 |  |  | 25 |  |  |  |  | 90 |  |
2029 | 38 |  |  | 34 |  |  | 18 |  |  |  |  | 90 |  |
2030 | 45 |  |  | — |  |  | 45 |  |  |  |  | 90 |  |
2031 | 45 |  |  | — |  |  | 45 |  |  |  |  | 90 |  |
| 307 |  | (a) | 188 |  | (b) | 199 |  |  |  |  | 694 |  |
(a) The delivery timing for the -7 is dependent on the FAA issuing required certifications and approvals to Boeing and the Company. The FAA will ultimately determine the timing of the -7 certification and entry into service, and the Company therefore offers no assurances that current estimations and timelines are correct. (b) The Company has flexibility to designate firm orders or options as -7s or -8s, upon written advance notification as stated in the contract. (c) The Company currently plans for approximately 79 MAX aircraft deliveries in 2024. Based on the Company's current agreement with Boeing, capital commitments associated with its firm orders as of December 31, 2023, were: $2.2 billion in 2024, $1.7 billion in 2025, $1.9 billion in 2026, $2.6 billion in 2027, $2.9 billion in 2028, and $5.3 billion thereafter. Los Angeles International Airport In April 2023, the Company executed a lease agreement with Los Angeles World Airports ("LAWA"), which owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport ("LAX"), for the ground lease and construction of a new concourse. In this agreement, the Company will manage the development, design, financing, and construction of nine new gates, along with additional features, at LAX. Construction of the concourse is estimated to be complete in late 2028 or early 2029 at a cost not to exceed $2.3 billion. Funding for this project will flow through a credit facility and the outstanding loans are expected to be paid off directly by LAWA to the credit facility at project completion, thus reimbursing the Company on all costs drawn on the credit facility. As of December 31, 2023, the credit facility has yet to be put into place and is expected to be established closer to the beginning of construction, which is anticipated to occur in 2025. The Company is expected to be reimbursed by the credit facility on prior payments made once in place. Based on this agreement, the Company has determined that it does have control over the assets during this project for accounting purposes. As a result, the costs incurred to fund this project thus far, which totaled $62 million as of December 31, 2023, are included within Assets constructed for others on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet. William P. Hobby Airport In March 2022, the Company executed a Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA") with the City of Houston, Texas (the "City") which owns William P. Hobby Airport ("Hobby") that is managed and operated by the City's Houston Airport System. Under the MOA, the Company will manage the development, design, and construction of seven new gates in Hobby's West Concourse. The project is currently estimated to be completed in 2026 at a cost of at least $470 million. The Company will provide initial funding for the majority of the project, but is expected to be reimbursed for such funding from the City on a monthly basis and therefore the project should not significantly impact the Company’s liquidity. The City plans to fund these reimbursements utilizing rates and charges collected from current and future Hobby occupants, including the Company. Based on the MOA, as well as a terminal lease amendment expected to be finalized prior to the beginning of significant construction, the Company has determined that it does not control the assets during the construction period for accounting purposes, and thus will record the amounts funded for the project as a receivable until reimbursed by the City, and the balance is derecognized. There were no material amounts recorded in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2023. Dallas Love Field During 2008, the City of Dallas approved the Love Field Modernization Project ("LFMP"), a project to reconstruct Dallas Love Field with modern, convenient air travel facilities. Pursuant to a Program Development Agreement with the City of Dallas and the Love Field Airport Modernization Corporation (or the "LFAMC," a Texas non-profit "local government corporation" established by the City of Dallas to act on the City of Dallas' behalf to facilitate the development of the LFMP), the Company managed this project. Major construction was effectively completed in 2014. During second quarter 2017, the City of Dallas approved using the remaining bond funds for additional terminal construction projects, which were effectively completed in 2018. Although the City of Dallas received commitments from various sources that helped to fund portions of the LFMP project, including the FAA, the Transportation Security Administration, and the City of Dallas' Aviation Fund, the majority of the funds used were from the issuance of bonds. The Company guaranteed principal and interest payments on bonds issued by the LFAMC, of which only the "Series 2012" bonds remain outstanding. Given the Company’s guarantee associated with the Series 2012 bonds, the remaining debt service amount is considered a minimum lease payment under ASC Topic 842, Leases, and therefore remains a lease liability with a corresponding right-of-use asset within the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. As of December 31, 2023, $59 million of principal remained outstanding associated with the Series 2012 bonds. The net present values of the future principal and interest payments associated with the bonds were $65 million and $77 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and were reflected as part of the Company's operating lease right–of–use assets and lease obligations in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Contingencies The Company is from time to time subject to various legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of business and records a liability for such claims when it is probable that a loss will be incurred and the amount is reasonably estimable. The Company is a defendant in class action litigation asserting it has not provided paid short-term military leave to certain employees, in violation of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”). The United States District Court for the Northern District of California previously issued an order to effectively stay the action, pending an appeal from an order by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington granting summary judgment in favor of an airline in a separate case involving substantially the same claims at issue in this action. On February 1, 2023, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment and remanded the separate airline case to the District Court. The Ninth Circuit’s decision may adversely affect the Company’s defenses in the USERRA proceeding and may give rise to additional litigation in this or other areas. The Company is currently not able to estimate a range of possible loss with regards to the litigation to which it is a defendant.

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