Last updated: 31 October 2026.
Southwest helps customers with disabilities and children travelling alone. Its help pages did not list a pregnancy restriction; ask the airline for details if you are near term.
24 hourscheck in opens; wheelchair help is requested in Manage Reservation
5 to 11ages for Unaccompanied Minor service
45 minlatest a parent should be at the gate with a UM
USD 100each-way UM service charge, mainland routes
Wheelchairs and disability help
- Wheelchair assistance runs from the kerb to the gate and back, and between gates on connections, covering boarding, gate changes and disruptions.
- Say what you need to a Southwest employee on arrival, at each connection and after landing. You may also notify the airline early by choosing disability options when booking or editing the reservation online.
- Curbside check-in is not offered at every airport or at all hours; if no employee or Skycap is at the curb, ask inside.
- A partner airline on your itinerary may ask for help to be requested differently.
- Where an airline-made change removes access features a customer needs, Southwest repays the unused fare, for that customer and for companions on the booking who would rather not fly without them.
Children travelling alone
- 5 to 11
- Allowed as an Unaccompanied Minor, with a per-child charge in each direction
- 12 to 17
- Treated under the Young Travelers policy
- Reserve online, by phone or with an agent at the counter. The child must be on a non-stop flight or one that stops without a change of planes. International flights, connecting itineraries and Getaways packages are not allowed.
- Service charge: USD 100 each way per child on mainland routes, USD 35 between the Hawaiian Islands.
- Southwest does not monitor an unaccompanied minor continuously; the child must be mature enough to ask for help. A flight attendant checks periodically.
- When booking, give name, relationship, address and phone numbers for the drop-off person, the pick-up person and an alternate. At the counter, collect a gate pass by showing photo ID and the child's itinerary, then be at the gate 45 minutes or more before take-off with the UM paperwork. The child wears a lanyard and boards first, and you wait in the gate area until the plane is in the air.
- A child on a Basic fare is assigned a seat at check-in; on Choice fares a seat can be chosen.
Questions travellers ask us
How do I ask for a wheelchair?
Through your reservation online or when you reach the airport.
At what age can a child fly alone?
From 5 to 11 as an Unaccompanied Minor, on non-stop or no-change-of-plane flights.
What does the service cost?
USD 100 each way per child on mainland routes.
Baggage Allowance is an independent information site and is not part of Southwest Airlines. Check the airline's own pages before you travel.
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