DALLAS, April 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) today announced it has donated 10,000 roundtrip tickets to 76 hospitals and medical transportation charities located throughout North America as part of the airline's annual Medical Transportation Grant Program. This year, the airline is supporting organizations across 25 states and in 40 cities. Throughout the year, hospitals and medical charities are able to use these tickets to alleviate travel costs for patients receiving critical medical treatments.

"We are proud to provide a critical lifeline for patients and caregivers as they travel to receive or give life-saving care," said Laurie Barnett, Southwest Airlines' Managing Director of Communications and Outreach. "By providing complementary air travel, we're able to make life a little bit easier for families in trying times in their lives."

Since the program's inception in 2007, Southwest has donated nearly $32 million in transportation to support more than 79,000 patients and caregivers. To learn more about the impact this program makes in communities across North America, visit this link. And, to view the full list of participating hospitals and charitable organizations for 2019, visit Southwest.com/medicalgrant. 

In its 48th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 59,000 Employees to a Customer base topping 120 million passengers annually. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. In peak travel seasons, Southwest operates more than 4,000 weekday departures among a network of 100 destinations in the United States and 10 additional countries.

Southwest coined Transfarency^® to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free^® to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply.

Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. Learn more about how the carrier gives back to communities across the world by visiting Southwest.com/citizenship.