Southwest Airlines vs United Airlines
United Airlines reported revenue of $59.1 billion in fiscal 2025, 2.1 times Southwest Airlines' $28.1 billion in fiscal 2025. Southwest Airlines' revenue grew 2.1% in its latest year, and United Airlines' grew 3.5%. Southwest Airlines had an operating margin of 1.5%, against 8.0% at United Airlines. Free cash flow was −$831 million at Southwest Airlines and $2.6 billion at United Airlines.
Side by side
| Southwest Airlines | United Airlines | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $28.1B | $59.1B |
| Revenue growth | 2.1% | 3.5% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 25.4% | 30.9% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 1.5% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 1.6% | 5.7% |
| Free cash flow | −$831M | $2.6B |
| Free cash flow margin | −3.0% | 4.3% |
| Return on capital | 3.7% | 15.3% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.9x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.9B | $637M |
| Change in diluted share count | −13.2% | −1.4% |
| Last close | $42.85 | $100.69 |
| P/E at the last close | 20.9× | 9.2× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $306,534 | sold $53.4 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 of 8 | 6 of 8 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
Southwest AirlinesUnited Airlines
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
Southwest AirlinesUnited Airlines
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
Southwest AirlinesUnited Airlines
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Southwest Airlines and United Airlines pages.