Job Description

Department:

Technology

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

Spring 2027 Software Engineering Internships

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Southwest Airlines is committed to providing Employees with equal opportunities for learning and personal growth. As a Technology Intern, you’ll contribute to real-time projects, collaborate with fellow interns and cross-functional teams, help advance Company initiatives, and support Southwest’s Purpose of connecting People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. Throughout the internship, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, grow, and develop as a future professional while making a meaningful impact. The Software Engineering Intern should be a strong communicator and collaborator, capable of presenting ideas in both technical and user-friendly terms while helping shape the future of Southwest’s Technology Team. If hired, Interns may be selected to support one of the following Teams:

Air Operations - Crew Technology

The Crew Technology organization develops and supports applications critical to Southwest Airlines Crew Members. Working with both the Crew Certification and Crew Recovery teams, you'll contribute to quality engineering, test automation, cloud technologies, CI/CD pipelines, and software modernization efforts across Crew Scheduling, Training, Mobility, Planning, and Recovery systems. This role offers the opportunity to work on highly visible technology initiatives while learning from experienced engineers in a large-scale enterprise environment.

Air Operations - Revenue Management Technology

The Revenue Management Technology team develops and supports the systems that help Southwest Airlines optimize revenue, inventory, and customer demand forecasting. Team members work with large-scale data, cloud and on-premises technologies, and enterprise applications that power Revenue Management, Southwest.com, and Marketing capabilities. This is an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with data-driven decision-making, forecasting, and technology solutions that directly impact airline performance and profitability.

Air Operations - Crew Scheduling

The CrewMesh Pod supports Southwest Airlines' Crew Scheduling modernization efforts by developing cloud-native services, APIs, and event-driven solutions that connect critical operational systems. Team members work with modern software engineering practices, cloud technologies, automation, and agile delivery methods to build scalable, reliable solutions that support Crew operations while advancing enterprise modernization initiatives.

People & Finance - People and Communications

The People and Communications team builds and supports technology platforms enabling Southwest Airlines to engage with Customers and Employees through social, internal, and external communication channels. As a Software Engineer Intern, you'll collaborate with engineers, product teams, and business partners to develop innovative solutions that drive meaningful connections and enhance the Southwest brand. You'll gain hands-on experience with modern technologies, Agile development practices, and enterprise platforms that support customer engagement, employee communications, and collaboration across the Company.

Tech & Ground Ops - Tech Ops Parts, Finance and Reliability

The Tech Operations Technology team develops and modernizes solutions that support aircraft maintenance, parts management, regulatory compliance, and operational readiness across Southwest Airlines. Team members work with cloud technologies, enterprise applications, data products, automation, and AI-enabled solutions that help improve aircraft availability, operational reliability, and maintenance efficiency. This is an opportunity to contribute to business-critical systems that directly support the safe and efficient return of aircraft to service.

Additional Details

• Receive free, unlimited space available travel privileges for yourself (taxes and fees may apply on international travel).
• Interns will be provided any required equipment, such as a laptop, for the internship.
• Stipends may be offered based on eligibility and program criteria.
• The Intern will work full-time as a Software Engineering Intern within the Technology Department. This role is offered as a remote workplace position, which may require travel for trainings, meetings, conferences, etc. Outside of those required visits, the majority of your working time may be spent in an approved remote location, away from our Corporate Campus. Please note, while this is a remote position, there is limited group of states or localities ineligible for Employees to regularly perform their work off-site. Those ineligible locations are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Hampshire New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.
• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.

We are committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics.

Duties and Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the Software Engineering Intern may include but are not limited to:

• Analyze, design, write program code, test, document, and implement functionally appropriately, technically sound, and well-integrated application systems in accordance with Customer requirements, and organizational methodologies and standards.
• Respond to production problems and implement immediate resolution efforts across technology areas.
• Maintain awareness of technology trends in area of responsibility.
• Meet commitments and deliverables related to participating in projects.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Coursework or hands-on experience with programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, C#, Python, or Node.js.
• Coursework or experience with AWS cloud services, including S3, Lambda, DynamoDB, EventBridge, Redshift, Glue, ECS, and Kinesis.
• Coursework or experience with event streaming and messaging technologies such as Apache Kafka.
• Coursework or experience developing and consuming RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Coursework or experience with Git and version control best practices.
• Coursework or experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and software deployment processes.
• Coursework or experience with Agile or Scaled Agile (SAFe) methodologies
• Ability to stay organized and manage multiple and concurrent assignments under tight deadlines preferred
• Previous internship or work experience as a Software Engineer Intern within the past 12 months preferred
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, team-based, Customer service-oriented environment with a high regard for hospitality
• Demonstrate programming aptitude and ability for logical and abstract thinking
• Problem solving ability and strong written/verbal communications skills preferred
• Works well in a culture that is open, direct, respectful, courteous, and compassionate preferred

Time Commitment and Pay

• Join Southwest as a Summer 2027 Intern, with a 12-week internship lasting from May 18 – August 8, 2027.
• Required: Full-time 40hrs a week.
• Must maintain a consistent weekly schedule during normal business hours at a max of 8hrs per day.
• $26 - $30 /hour, corresponding with progress towards degree completion.

Education

• High School Diploma, GED or equivalent education required.  
• Progress towards degree, major, or minor in MIS, Business, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems or Information Technology, Data Analytics, Statistics, Economics, Finance, Business Administration or similar degree.
• Progress towards a 4-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree is required.
• To be eligible, you must be currently enrolled as a full-time student (as defined by your university) at the time of application and during the internship.  
• 1-2 semesters remaining at the time the internship ends is preferred.  
• Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of application is required.

Basic Qualifications

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986.
• You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process.

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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