Southwest Airlines is building a lounge in Austin. What kind of lounge it will be remains to be seen, but it looks to be a very large club lounge for passengers in the new concourse that the airport is building based on master lease documents.
I FOIA’d the new Austin airport use and lease agreement signed at the end of 2025. It has Southwest Airlines building out a 40,000 square foot lounge as part of the new concourse development. The lease agreement lists this as a crew lounge. However a lounge of that size does not make sense as a crew lounge exclusively.
- Southwest announced that their Austin crew base will open next month and it will have 335 pilots and 650 flight attendants. It will eventually scale to about 2,000 total employees by mid-2027.
- A base of that size might warrant a 10,000 square foot lounge. They could lean in to even further growth plans, and with a new terminal build and plenty of available space perhaps they’d dedicate 15,000 square feet. Remember most pilots and flight attendants will not be on site at any given time. If they’re at the airport it’s just briefly, except during irregular operations.
- As a sanity check, the FAA estimates a minimum of 500 square feet per peak hour departure for all airline operations. Southwest will ultimately have 18 gates so 10,000 feet is in the ballpark. (Southwest separately has 30,000 square feet of operational space and 6,500 square feet of ticket office and baggage service space.)
We know that Southwest Airlines is building out airport lounges – with the one in Honolulu now official. Dallas Love Field work will also provide for lounge space.
We know that they’re leasing 40,000 square feet of lounge space on the new concourse in Austin, and that’s orders of magnitude more than they need for the stated ‘crew lounge’ purpose.
So it looks like Southwest Airlines will build a premium customer lounge in Austin. Expect access via a new premium credit card from Chase. Southwest declined comment, but didn’t dispute the story.
What is this new PR strategy of leaking-then-backtracking-then-doing, which BILT 2.0 attempted (no, no… those aren’t the new cards… yes, they are, and you’re gonna pay fees for rent, too)… then Hyatt with the Cat 9-10 hoax only (never-mind, same categories, worse rates, huge devaluation)… BofA, Preferred Rewards, now you need a million dollars, no, wait, we’ll postpone that for a while… now, Southwest, I guess. LOL. Buncha jokers.
Anybody but Delta.
They are a scumbag operation and don’t belong anywhere near AUS.
Aston. One 1️⃣ the worst airports to ever be forced to change planes at. Slimy left wing woken city and airport. Small wonder that the current DEI SWA board and upper management is choosing it. Pathetic yet par forte course with this entire poser bunch who are rumming the airline into the ground.
I wonder why Southwest would want to cover up the fact that they are building a lounge. United, American, and Delta already each have a lounge there.
@Brent — THANK YOU for bringing political humor back to VFTW. It was sorely lacking for a while, but you’ve brought it back. Oh. Wait. You were serious??? That’s even funnier…
Will it have assigned seating with no switching allowed?
Recent company driven reductions of loyal WN flyers should limit loungge crowding. Bully!
If it was United, they’d announce it as a luxury lounge, hold some publicity events, and then not build it for 5 years (Polaris rollout style).
I strongly suspect that Southwest is planning on a phased rollout of premium products. If true, how far along they are in that process is anyone’s guess. But it seems to be moving at a glacial pace.
@Mike Hunt — Wake us up when they finally install 2-2 recliners up-front.
Will Southwest’s new lounge sell food, snacks and alcoholic drinks? If so, will there be any type of sobriety test before pilot”s next flight? Perhaps, endangering some 200 passengers?
@Retard – Someone please wake me up when you permanently STFU.
I fully expect SWA passengers to funnel soft drinks from the Coke dispenser in the new Austin lounge, since they won’t be able to stuff their carry on with a couple of free six-packs before heading to the gate
Here are my hopes for Austin:
(1) When they open the new terminal, it will be in the space of the current space that was originally used for car rentals, before they moved car rentals another 5 minutes away from the terminal. When doing so I hope they keep the car rentals where they are now so that, once again, you can be there within a minute or two of leaving the terminal. Same for Rideshare.
(2) Place the Delta gates much closer to security than they are now.
Gary Leff writes, “Exclusive: Southwest Airlines Commits To Massive Lounge In Austin—Covers It Up With Story That Makes No Sense.” Gary also says, “Southwest announced that its Austin crew base will open next month, and it will have 335 pilots and 650 flight attendants. It will eventually scale to about 2,000 total employees by mid-2027.”
Perhaps the top-secret 40,000-square-foot Southwest Airlines facility in Austin, which they don’t want you to know about, is not a passenger lounge but a crew support center focused on employee well-being, offering counseling, Employee Assistance Programs, Substance Use Services, and a detox facility to promote mental health and recovery for Southwest Airlines staff.
Southwest Airlines’ motto is “Safety First.” But there’s more to the story than slogans like “Low fares. Nothing to hide,” which often means “No peanuts left behind.” On January 27, 2026, Southwest Airlines introduced revenue-driven policies: assigned seating. Flight attendants then faced a wave of complaints—especially from Big 10 football players denied complimentary wheelchairs, who couldn’t skip to the front of the line with their roommates. This new policy caused flight attendants’ stress and a decrease in their Candy Crush scores.
To compensate, Southwest Airlines crews now have to multitask. They play Candy Crush while driving to the airport. With one hand on the wheel and the other swiping for combos, they can lag behind Delta Air Lines and American Airlines flight teams.
Candy Crush isn’t the only thing catching attention. Now, Southwest’s flight deck is making headlines for new reasons: the viral trend of “flying under the influence.” A video of a Southwest pilot saying, “just three beers,” before failing a sobriety test, went viral after Flight 3772 from Georgia to Chicago was delayed on the tarmac for nearly five hours because of the pilot’s arrest. The event took delayed gratification to new heights—no Rapid Rewards points for this itinerary, unless you put the $3,500 DUI bond on your Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. (Terms may apply.)
In the aftermath of an intoxicated pilot, Southwest rebooked its customers and issued its classic apology: “There’s nothing more important to Southwest than the safety of our employees and customers—even if that sometimes means an unexpected five-hour layover in Atlanta.”
According to the FAA, “Hangovers are dangerous.” Hangovers cause headaches, dizziness, dry mouth, a stuffy nose, fatigue, an upset stomach, irritability, and sensitivity to bright light. When a pilot’s blood alcohol level lands between 0.02 and 0.039, that’s not technically a federal violation, but they must remain off duty until their level drops below 0.02 (say 0.019999) or eight hours have passed. The new 40,000-square-foot Detox Center in Austin is primarily designed as a support facility for Southwest crews, providing a space where crew members can rest, rehydrate, and recover before returning to duty, ensuring regulatory compliance while addressing health and safety needs.
In summary, I believe the new 40,000-square-foot Austin facility serves as a dedicated space for Southwest crews’ recovery and well-being, offering resources to help employees meet FAA standards after incidents. By focusing on employee assistance and post-incident care, the facility reinforces Southwest’s support for its staff and commitment to passenger safety.
@Mike Hunt — Gonna be asleep for a while then…
@Ken A — Excellent thesis, sir. My only wish is that you were even more thorough. Don’t hold back next time. We need more of your wisdom. Thank you.