$18.5M Southwest Airlines Settlement Ends Class Action Over Short-Term Military Leave Compensation

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An $18.5 million class action settlement resolves a lawsuit that alleged Southwest Airlines’ policy of refusing to provide paid leave for periods of short-term military leave violated federal law, given that the airline provided paid leave for other comparable short-term work absences.

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The $18.5 million Southwest Airlines class action settlement received preliminary approval from the court on December 11, 2025 and covers all current and former employees of Southwest who, during their employment with the airline at any time from October 10, 2004 through January 1, 2026, took short-term military leave lasting 14 days or fewer and were subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

Excluded from the settlement are employees subject to the agreement between Southwest Airlines and Transport Workers Union Local 550 covering meteorologists, court documents state.

According to the class certification order, approximately 6,733 people are covered by the settlement.

The court-approved website for the Southwest military leave settlement can be found at SWAUSERRAsettlement.com.

According to the agreement, Southwest settlement class members do not need to do anything to receive compensation if they received a settlement notice that stated the estimated amount they are set to receive from the deal on the first page of the document.

The agreement points out that each class member’s settlement payment will not be equal in value to the amount they lost as a result of Southwest’s alleged failure to issue short-term military leave wages and is instead a proportional percentage of the settlement amount.

Per the settlement site, payment will be automatically issued to class members via check to their last known address on file. Class members who would prefer to receive their payment electronically, or who wish to update their address, may complete a payment preference form using the ILYM ID found on their copy of the settlement notice, or request a change of address from the settlement administrator.

Per the settlement notice, class members whose notice stated that their estimated settlement payment is $0 will need to file a valid, timely claim form to receive compensation. The settlement agreement explains that such class members may have taken a qualifying military leave during a period for which Southwest no longer has records, and must file a claim to calculate and receive their payment.

To file a Southwest settlement claim form online, class members can head to this page and enter their ILYM ID and last name to log in. Alternatively, class members may instead fill out and submit the paper copy of the claim form provided with their settlement notice.

All Southwest Airlines military leave settlement claim forms must be submitted online or by mail by April 28, 2026.

Finally, as part of the class action settlement, Southwest has agreed to provide an annual enrollment of paid military leave to current employees across a five-year period. The agreement states that each employee will receive up to 10 days of differential pay for military leave each calendar year that they are employed, calculated based on the difference between their daily rate of pay at Southwest at the start of each year and the military pay for two drills based on their rank and years of service.

The agreement adds that each eligible employee will receive at least an additional $30 per leave day as a result of the differential pay.

The court will determine whether to grant final approval to the Southwest class action settlement following a hearing on May 14, 2026. Compensation will begin to be distributed to class members only after final approval has been granted and any appeals have been resolved.

The Southwest Airlines class action lawsuit alleged that the American airline violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) by refusing to provide paid leave to employees who took short-term military leave and subjected them to collective bargaining agreements, despite paying other employees for comparable forms of leave, such as jury duty, bereavement or sick leave.

Did you know that some class action settlements require no proof to submit a claim? Check out the latest class action settlements.