Southwest Airlines advertising spend, FY2025

Southwest Airlines (LUV) reported $332M of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. That is 1.2% of revenue of $28.1B. Down 4.0% from FY2024.

Ad spend, FY2025
$332M
year ended Dec 31, 2025
Change vs prior year
-4.0%
vs FY2024
Share of revenue
1.2%
of $28.1B revenue
Rank by ad spend
#162
of 336 companies

Key facts

  • Ad spend is 1.5x its FY2015 level ($218M), faster than revenue (1.4x).
  • The highest year on file is FY2024 at $346M; FY2025 is 4% below it.
  • Largest increase +30.1% in FY2024; largest cut -26.4% in FY2020.
  • Ad spend is 1.2% of revenue, down from 1.7% in FY2020.
  • Southwest Airlines spends more on advertising than 52% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is below the median of 5.2%.

Ad spend by fiscal year

$0 $100M $200M $300M $400M FY2008 (ended 2008-12-31): $199M FY2009 (ended 2009-12-31): $204M FY2010 (ended 2010-12-31): $202M 2010 FY2011 (ended 2011-12-31): $237M FY2012 (ended 2012-12-31): $223M FY2013 (ended 2013-12-31): $208M 2013 FY2014 (ended 2014-12-31): $207M FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): $218M FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): $232M 2016 FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): $224M FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): $215M FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): $212M 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): $156M FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): $185M FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): $224M 2022 FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): $266M FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): $346M FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): $332M 2025 $332M

Ad spend as % of revenue

0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% FY2008 (ended 2008-12-31): 1.8% FY2009 (ended 2009-12-31): 2.0% FY2010 (ended 2010-12-31): 1.7% 2010 FY2011 (ended 2011-12-31): 1.5% FY2012 (ended 2012-12-31): 1.3% FY2013 (ended 2013-12-31): 1.2% 2013 FY2014 (ended 2014-12-31): 1.1% FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): 1.1% FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): 1.1% 2016 FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): 1.1% FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): 1.0% FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): 0.9% 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): 1.7% FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): 1.2% FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): 0.9% 2022 FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): 1.0% FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): 1.3% FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): 1.2% 2025 1.2%

History

Download CSV
Fiscal year Period end Ad spend YoY Revenue Ad / revenue Tag Filing
FY2025 Dec 31, 2025 $332M -4.0% $28.1B 1.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 5, 2026
FY2024 Dec 31, 2024 $346M +30.1% $27.5B 1.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 5, 2026
FY2023 Dec 31, 2023 $266M +18.8% $26.1B 1.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 5, 2026
FY2022 Dec 31, 2022 $224M +21.1% $23.8B 0.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2025
FY2021 Dec 31, 2021 $185M +18.6% $15.8B 1.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 6, 2024
FY2020 Dec 31, 2020 $156M -26.4% $9B 1.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2023
FY2019 Dec 31, 2019 $212M -1.4% $22.4B 0.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2022
FY2018 Dec 31, 2018 $215M -4.0% $22B 1.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 8, 2021
FY2017 Dec 31, 2017 $224M -3.4% $21.2B 1.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 4, 2020
FY2016 Dec 31, 2016 $232M +6.4% $20.4B 1.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 5, 2019
FY2015 Dec 31, 2015 $218M +5.3% $19.8B 1.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2018
FY2014 Dec 31, 2014 $207M -0.5% $18.6B 1.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2017
FY2013 Dec 31, 2013 $208M -6.7% $17.7B 1.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 3, 2016
FY2012 Dec 31, 2012 $223M -5.9% $17.1B 1.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 6, 2015
FY2011 Dec 31, 2011 $237M +17.3% $15.7B 1.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 4, 2014
FY2010 Dec 31, 2010 $202M -1.0% $12.1B 1.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 7, 2013
FY2009 Dec 31, 2009 $204M +2.5% $10.3B 2.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 9, 2012
FY2008 Dec 31, 2008 $199M n/a $11B 1.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 8, 2011

What the figure is

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Compared with similar spenders

The 6 companies closest to Southwest Airlines in latest-year ad spend.

Rank Company Ad spend Ad / revenue YoY Fiscal year
159 ServiceNow $348M 2.6% +18.0% FY2025
160 Weibo $338M 19.2% +5.7% FY2025
161 Angi $334M 32.4% +0.2% FY2025
162 Southwest Airlines $332M 1.2% -4.0% FY2025
163 People Inc. $328M 13.7% +3.3% FY2025
164 Celsius $319M 12.7% +43.9% FY2025
165 Hasbro $317M 5.9% -0.8% FY2025

Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest cuts #60 · Lowest ad-to-revenue #38

Questions

How much does Southwest Airlines spend on advertising?

Southwest Airlines spent $332M on advertising in fiscal 2025, the year ended Dec 31, 2025, according to its 10-K filed Feb 5, 2026.

What percentage of revenue does Southwest Airlines spend on advertising?

1.2% of revenue in fiscal 2025 ($332M of $28.1B). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.

Is Southwest Airlines spending more on advertising?

No. Ad spend fell 4.0% in fiscal 2025 from fiscal 2024.

How does Southwest Airlines rank by advertising spend?

#162 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.

What does Southwest Airlines's advertising figure include?

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Source

Filing
10-K for FY2025, filed Feb 5, 2026
Accession number
0000092380-26-000004
Company
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO, CIK 92380, SIC 4512 (Air Transportation, Scheduled)
Data
SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
Cite
Southwest Airlines advertising spend, FY2008-FY2025. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Feb 5, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/southwest-airlines/advertising-spend/
Download
CSV, all years · CSV, all 336 companies