Back to School

Following several inflight safety incidents, Southwest Airlines ordered all line pilots to undergo a one-day Operational Philosophy Summit (Ops Day) training course that ran between November 2024 and February 28, 2025. This proactive instruction is part of the airline’s evolving training programs for pilots and other employees.

Robert L. Sumwalt, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and current executive director of Embry-Riddle’s Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety, showed videos and discussed the various incidents with the pilots during Ops Day.

The one-day session focused on areas identified by the Southwest pilots operational review team as needing improvement.

Abigail Fuhrmann, Senior Manager Training Production and Matt Gardner, Supervisor Flight Training, both with the Flight Operations Training Department, shared with CAT those principal areas of discussion: Crew Resource Management (CRM); pilot monitoring; flying tasks; developing better communication skills between the Captain and First Officer; situational awareness; intervention, when a flight crew member sees something that needs immediate attention; leadership and mentorship; proper use of callouts and checklists; automation; and discussion of manual flying and maintaining those skills.

“We discussed how the training department could better serve those pilots undergoing initial and recurrent training, Gardner said.

The airline is considered a leader in adopting new forms of training, including the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP), an alternative method for qualifying, pilots, flight attendants, instructors, evaluators and dispatchers and operations personnel.

“Because we are AQP, we have a team of instructional visual and multi-media designers, who specialize in adult education and learning theory,” said Fuhrmann. “We use more experiential training and incorporate more multi media and visual designers.”

Southwest operates nearly 800 Boeing 737 aircraft in the fleet. The three primary models are: 737NG, 800NG and MAX 8.

Included among the numerous incidents that prompted Ops Day were:

May 2024: a Southwest 737 MAX 8 came within 400 ft. of the Pacific Ocean during landing attempt at Lihne Airport on the southeast coast of Kauai;

June 21, 2024: a Southwest 737-800 Airlines flight triggered a low altitude alert on approach to Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport;

March, 2025: a Southwest morning flight nearly took off from a taxiway at Orlando International Airport before air traffic control stopped the departure; and

May 2025: a Southwest 737-800 on approach to Chicago Midway Airport was forced to go around after nearly colliding with a Bombardier Challenger 350.

To learn how Southwest is expanding its long-term training infrastructure, read Robert Moorman’s report on the new Denver-based SWAU facility.