Southwest Airlines Co.

Southwest Airlines Co. is a major American airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1967 as Air Southwest Co., it adopted its current name and began commercial flights in 1971. The publicly traded company (NYSE: LUV) is one of the largest airlines in the United States by passengers carried. For the twelve months ending March 31, 2026, Southwest reported revenues of $28.9 billion. As of early 2026, the company had over 73,000 employees.

Southwest operates as a low-cost carrier, primarily offering short-haul, point-to-point passenger air transportation. Its fleet consists exclusively of Boeing 737 aircraft, a strategy designed to streamline maintenance and operations. The airline serves 121 airports across 12 countries, including destinations in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. In addition to passenger travel, Southwest also provides cargo transportation services.

As a large operating company, Southwest's patent litigation posture is that of a defendant. The company has been a defendant in one tracked case and has not appeared as a plaintiff. This defensive role is typical for major corporations that are targeted by patent assertion entities. The single case was filed in the District of Delaware, a common venue for patent litigation.

The tracked case, Cyberfone Systems, LLC v. Southwest Airlines Co., was filed in 2011. Cyberfone, a patent assertion entity and subsidiary of Marathon Patent Group, sued a large number of companies, including many airlines and technology firms, over patents related to data transaction processing. The patents asserted by Cyberfone were ultimately found to be invalid by the district court because they covered an abstract idea, a decision later affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.