Summer 2027 Data Engineer Internship

Department:

Technology

Our Company Promise

We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest Customer.

Job Description:

Summer 2027 Data Engineering Internship

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Southwest Airlines is committed to providing Employees with equal opportunities for learning and personal growth. As a Technology Intern, you’ll contribute to real-time projects, collaborate with fellow interns and cross-functional teams, help advance Company initiatives, and support Southwest’s Purpose of connecting People to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. Throughout the internship, you’ll have the opportunity to learn, grow, and develop as a future professional while making a meaningful impact. The Data Engineering Intern should be a strong communicator and collaborator, capable of presenting ideas in both technical and user-friendly terms while helping shape the future of Southwest’s Technology Team. If hired, Intern may be selected to support projects on the following Team:

Enterprise Data Enablement

The Enterprise Data Enablement team builds and maintains the real-time data platforms that power critical Southwest Airlines operational systems. This team integrates flight operations data, including schedule updates, gate and baggage information, aircraft fuel data, and other operational events, into a unified, reliable data ecosystem. Their work supports the flight status experience on Southwest.com as well as data-driven decision making across more than 15 enterprise applications.

The team develops solutions that provide visibility into airport ground equipment, helping improve operational efficiency, accelerate aircraft turnaround times, and enhance on-time performance. The team partners across Air Operations, Ground Operations, and other cross-functional business domains to deliver scalable data products and enable real-time insights throughout the organization.

Additional Details

• Receive free, unlimited space available travel privileges for yourself (taxes and fees may apply on international travel).
• Interns will be provided any required equipment, such as a laptop, for the internship.
• Stipends may be offered based on eligibility and program criteria.
• The Intern will work full-time as a Data Engineering Intern within the Technology Department. This role is offered as a remote workplace position, which may require travel for trainings, meetings, conferences, etc. Outside of those required visits, the majority of your working time may be spent in an approved remote location, away from our Corporate Campus. Please note, while this is a remote position, there is limited group of states or localities ineligible for Employees to regularly perform their work off-site. Those ineligible locations are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New Hampshire New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.
• U.S. citizenship or current authorization to work in the U.S. required and no current or future work authorization sponsorship available.

We are committed to fair hiring practices and to making employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics.

Duties and Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the Data Engineering Intern may include but are not limited to:

• Support testing of data pipelines and integrations (e.g., between People and Training applications, such as Workday and Cornerstone).
• Assist to isolate errors in data flow or transformation logic and document findings.
• Contribute to automating manual processes such as training assignment tracking, report generation, or data syncing between systems.
• Build or update dashboards and reports using tools like Tableau or Alteryx to reflect data from both LMS (eLearning Platform) systems.
• Document technical processes, data definitions, and system behaviors during the transition of Learning Management systems (LMS).
• Assist in monitoring data quality, flag duplicates or inconsistencies, and support cleanup efforts.
• Participate in user acceptance testing (UAT) for LMS features and reporting tools.
• Conduct and participate in quality control activities and provide meaningful feedback.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

• Coursework or hands-on experience with programming and scripting languages such as Python, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
• Coursework or experience with AWS cloud services and infrastructure, including S3, Lambda, Fargate, Aurora, Athena, and Redshift.
• Coursework or experience with data visualization, reporting, and business intelligence tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or similar platforms.
• Coursework or experience with SQL development, query optimization, and relational database management systems.
• Coursework or experience with data warehousing and data lake architectures.
• Coursework or experience with data integration, ETL/ELT processes, and data pipeline development.
• Coursework or experience with structured and semi-structured data formats, including XML, XSLT, XPath, JSON, and data transformation principles.
• Coursework or experience with Agile or Scaled Agile (SAFe) methodologies
• Ability to stay organized and manage multiple and concurrent assignments under tight deadlines preferred
• Previous internship or work experience as a Data Engineer Intern within the past 12 months preferred
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, team-based, Customer service-oriented environment with a high regard for hospitality
• Demonstrate programming aptitude and ability for logical and abstract thinking
• Problem solving ability and strong written/verbal communications skills preferred
• Works well in a culture that is open, direct, respectful, courteous, and compassionate preferred.

Time Commitment and Pay 

• Join Southwest as a Summer 2027 Intern, with a 12-week internship lasting from May 18 – August 8, 2027.
• Required: Full-time 40hrs a week.
• Must maintain a consistent weekly schedule during normal business hours at a max of 8hrs per day.
• $26 - $30 /hour, corresponding with progress towards degree completion

Education  

• High School Diploma, GED or equivalent education required.
• Progress towards degree, major, or minor in MIS, Business, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems or Information Technology, Data Analytics, Statistics, Economics, Finance, Business Administration or similar degree.
• Progress towards a 4-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree is required.
• To be eligible, you must be currently enrolled as a full-time student (as defined by your university) at the time of application and during the internship.
• 1-2 semesters remaining at the time the internship ends is preferred.
• Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of application is required.

Basic Qualifications  

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must have authorization to work in the United States as defined by the Immigration Reform Act of 1986.
• You must have a valid U.S. Social Security Number to complete the full hiring process.

Southwest Airlines is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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