Gallery: Inside Southwest’s Operations Control

Southwest’s NOC, or network operations control center, is essentially the airline’s mission control. Bathed in blue night club lighting, the current NOC opened in 2014. It can withstand an F3 tornado up to 206-mile winds and has generator backup lasting for days. Southwest’s NOC has hosted its competitors that have reciprocated marching toward the common goal of a safer and more efficient aviation complex. 
 

The NOC can call up livestreams of cameras on the ramp and at gates of many of its busiest stations including this feed from a snowy Denver International Airport.
 

Network Operations Dashboard displays a real-time health check of the airline including arrival and departure delays, flight cancellations by stations, aircraft swaps and diversions. The software constantly compares actual data to forecasts with critical performance areas highlighted in red. 
 

Real time monitoring of ground ops at SW’s key stations can be called up, in this case, a live feed of DAL Love Field. 
 

Two in-house meteorologists are on duty at all times tracking weather across the country. The nation is divided by orange borders into ATC centers. Special adverse weather conditions with SIGMETS and AIRMETS including icing, turbulence, and convection are overlaid in shaded transparent color washes with insignias indicating such conditions. A national live radar summary fills out the picture.
 

A photo of Southwest’s previous NOC, which was replaced in 2014 by the current facility.

Inside the so called “Situation Room” overlooking the NOC. Department leads meet three times a day to vet the overall status of the operation, with key attention on the airline's 15 busiest airports.