FINANCE CASE competition

Finance Case Competition challenges members to analyze a comprehensive case study involving key areas of finance, such as financial management, investments, financial institutions, and financial services. Members present their findings and recommendations to a panel of judges, demonstrating analytical thinking, financial literacy, and strategic decision-making.

Event Overview

Division: Collegiate
Event Type: Team of 1, 2, 3 or 4 members
Event Category: Case Competition
Event Elements: Presentation with a Topic
Presentation Time: 3-minute set-up time (no interaction allowed with judges during this time), 10-minute presentation time (a one-minute warning will be provided), 5-minute question & answer time

Educational Alignments

Items Provided by Competitors: Technology and presentation items, Photo Identification, Conference-provided nametag, Attire that meets the Florida FBLA Dress Code
Items Provided by FBLA: Table for preliminary round; table, projector & screen for final round

2026-2027 Finance Case Competition

The case competition  can be found below. The business entity should not be contacted for additional information.  This case competition is for educational purposes only, offering a real-world scenario to help FBLA Collegiate members develop critical skills. These skills can be applied to careers like corporate finance, management consulting, and investment banking, etc. The case needs to be solved with independent research using publicly available information and your own business acumen skills. This year’s case competition was created in partnership with CaseBasix.

Overview and Background Information

Client: Southwest Airlines Co. 

Project: Financing the Next Wave of Fleet Growth 

Southwest Airlines Co., founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King and headquartered at Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas, is the largest domestic carrier in the United States by passengers boarded and one of the most recognizable low-cost airlines in the world. Southwest operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet of roughly 800 aircraft and has built its brand on operational simplicity, friendly service, and an efficient single-fleet-type strategy. In recent years the company has begun modernizing both its commercial model, introducing assigned seating and checked-bag fees, and its fleet, retiring its oldest 737-700s and moving toward an all-737 MAX fleet by 2031 for greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions. To fund this transition while protecting liquidity and its balance sheet, Southwest has also pursued fleet-monetization initiatives such as sale-leaseback transactions on a portion of its 737-800 aircraft.

Southwest is weighing how to secure the additional capacity it needs while balancing monthly cash flow, total long-term cost, balance-sheet leverage, liquidity, and the flexibility to scale capacity up or down as demand shifts. The snapshot below compares the three financing options on a representative, per-aircraft basis for a new Boeing 737-8 (MAX 8). Figures are illustrative and should be confirmed against Southwest’s public filings.

Option  Upfront Cost Monthly   Annual Annual   Residual /
Payment Insurance  Maintenance Book Value
(after 12 yrs) 

Buy (12-yr $5.5M down ~$470,000  $150,000 $1,200,000  ~$28,000,000 
debt @ 5.5%)  (10%) 

Operating $1,000,000 ~$390,000  $150,000  $900,000 $0 (aircraft
Lease deposit  (reserves)  returned)
(12-yr term) 

ACMI / Short- $0  Pay-per-use Included  Included $0
Term Capacity  (~$540,000
at planned
utilization) 

Other details: 

  • Fleet addition: approximately 12 incremental Boeing 737-8 (MAX 8) aircraft added over three years. 

  • Purchase price: approximately $55 million per new 737-8. 

  • Debt-financing rate: 5.5%, assuming a 12-year loan term with a 10% down payment. 

  • Aircraft economic life: 25 years; analysis horizon: 12 years. 

  • Expected annual maintenance escalation: approximately 3%. 

  • ACMI rates may fluctuate ±10% annually based on market demand and fuel prices. 

  • Target fleet: an all-Boeing 737 MAX fleet by 2031. 

 Additional Considerations 

  • Southwest prioritizes strong liquidity and a healthy balance sheet, and has used sale-leaseback transactions on a portion of its 737-800 aircraft to raise cash while protecting its balance sheet. 

  • The company is retiring its oldest 737-700s and moving toward an all-737 MAX fleet by 2031 for greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions. 

  • Leadership values disciplined capital allocation, investment-grade credit metrics, and consistent returns to shareholders. 

  • Southwest weighs fuel-efficiency and sustainability goals alongside cost when evaluating new capacity. 

  • Operating leases and short-term ACMI preserve near-term cash but affect reported leverage and long-run unit costs differently than outright ownership. 

Your Task
You have been engaged by Southwest Airlines Co. as a corporate finance analyst supporting the Fleet Planning and Treasury team. 

Southwest plans to add approximately 12 incremental Boeing 737-8 (MAX 8) aircraft over the next three years to serve new and higher-demand routes, and must decide how to obtain this capacity: buy the aircraft outright with debt financing, acquire them through operating leases, or secure flexible short-term ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) capacity.  

Leadership has asked your team to recommend the most financially sound path, weighing total long-term cost, monthly cash flow, balance-sheet leverage, liquidity, and the strategic flexibility to scale capacity up or down as demand changes.  

Key working assumptions for the case include a purchase price of about $55 million per new 737-8, a 5.5% debt-financing rate, a 25-year aircraft economic life, and a 12-year analysis horizon. 

Before you begin, take time to understand the sector you will be working in. Click here to explore what the airline industry entails and to build the context you will need to create a credible, data-driven recommendation. 

Additional Note: Your analysis should draw on Southwest’s publicly available financial reports, fleet strategy, and the broader economics of the airline industry, and should reflect the company’s low-cost heritage, its commitment to an all-737 MAX fleet, and its focus on liquidity and disciplined capital allocation. 

Deliverables
Your final presentation should include: 

  • Financial & Scenario Profile: 

  • A clear profile of Southwest’s relevant financial position and the expansion scenario, including capacity need, growth objectives, cost structure, and liquidity and leverage priorities. 

  • Framing of the three financing options (buy, operating lease, and on-demand ACMI capacity) and the assumptions used. 

  • Challenge & Cost Analysis: 

  • Analyze the economic and operational trade-offs of each option. 

  • Compare the total cost of each option over the 12-year horizon, including depreciation, financing and interest cost, maintenance, insurance, residual value, and the opportunity cost of capital. 

  • Consider flexibility, balance-sheet impact, and fuel-efficiency and sustainability in your evaluation. 

  • Recommendation: 

  • Provide a clear, data-backed recommendation for the best financial way to secure the capacity. 

  • Identify short-term and long-term implications, including impact on cash flow, leverage, return on invested capital, and strategic flexibility. 

  • Multi-Year Capital Budget Redesign: 

  • Build a revised multi-year fleet-financing budget for Southwest that aligns with your recommendation. 

  • Include projected annual cash outflows, savings or losses, and balance-sheet effects. 

  • Discuss the time value of money (TVM) and how the timing of spending affects Southwest’s financial position and cost of capital. 

Eligibility

·         FBLA membership dues are paid by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on February 1st of the current program year.

·         Members must be registered for the SLC and pay the state conference registration fee in order to participate in competitive events.

·         Members must stay within the official FBLA housing block of the official FBLA hotel to be eligible to compete.

·         Each chapter may submit one entry in this event.

·      On the state level, each member can compete in up to three different events in the following combinations: three objective tests OR two objective tests and one presentation OR two objective tests and one production or one objective test and two production OR one objective test, one presentation, and one production. Students may enter the Christopher Heider, Rob Kelleher, Who’s Who event, and one Chapter event (Community Service, State of the Chapter) in addition to their above chosen events.

·         Only competitors are allowed to plan, research, prepare, and set up their presentations. Advisers and others may not assist.

·         Each competitor must compete in all parts of an event for award eligibility.

·         Picture identification (physical or digital: driver’s license, passport, state-issued identification, or school-issued identification) matching the conference nametag is required when checking in for competitive events.

·         If competitors are late for a presentation time, they may be disqualified or placed later in the schedule.  The decision is solely up to the judges. If judges have left the competitive event area, it is no longer possible to compete.

·         Participants must adhere to the Florida FBLA dress code established by the Florida Board of Directors or they will not be permitted to participate in the competitive event.

Recognition

·         The number of competitors will determine the number of winners. The maximum number of winners for each competitive event is 4.

Event Administration

·         This event has a preliminary and final presentation round. If there are less than 15 teams registered, the event will proceed directly to the final presentation round.

Preliminary Presentation

o    Equipment Set-up Time: 3 minutes

o    Presentation Time: 10 minutes (one-minute warning)

o    Question & Answer Time: 5 minutes

o    Important: Time allocations are exclusive. The presentation must begin immediately after the 3-minute set-up time concludes. Time may not be shifted between segments. Competitors will not interact with judges during the set-up period.

o    The presentation is judged at the SLC. Preliminary presentations are not open to conference attendees.

o    Competitors/teams are randomly assigned to sections.

o    Technology Guidelines

· Internet Access: Not provided

· Presentations must be delivered using one or two personal devices (laptop, tablet, mobile phone, or monitor approximately laptop-sized).

· If using two devices, one must face the judges and the other must face the presenters.

· Projectors and projector screens are not permitted, and competitors may not bring their own.

· Wireless slide advancers (e.g., presentation clickers or mice) are allowed.

· External speakers are not allowed; audio must come directly from the presenting device(s).

· Electricity will not be available.

o    Non-Technology Items

· Visual aids, samples, notes, and other physical materials related to the project may be used.

· Items may be placed on the provided table or on the judges table, if space allows.

· No items may be left with the judges following the presentation.

o    Restricted Items

· Animals, except for authorized service animals.

· Food, which may be used for display only and may not be consumed by judges.

· Links and QR codes, which may be shown but may not be scanned or clicked by judges at any time.

o    Research

· Information must be supported by credible, well-documented sources.

· Any use of copyrighted material, images, logos, or trademarks must be properly documented.

o    Team Expectations

· In team presentations, all members must actively participate in the delivery of the presentation.

Final Presentation

o    Equipment Set-up Time: 3 minutes

o    Presentation Time: 10 minutes (one-minute warning)

o    Question & Answer Time: 5 minutes

o    Internet Access: Not provided

o An equal number of top scoring competitors/teams from each section in the preliminary round will advance to the final round.

o    If needed, the finals round will follow the same guidelines as the preliminary round.

Scoring

·         The presentation score will determine the finalists.

·         The final presentation score will determine winners.

·         Judges must break ties.

·         The decision of the judges is considered final. All announced results are final upon the conclusion of the State Leadership Conference and will not be changed after the State Leadership Conference.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

·         FBLA complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing reasonable accommodations for competitors. Accommodation requests must be submitted through the conference registration system by the official registration deadline. All requests will be reviewed, and additional documentation may be required to determine eligibility and appropriate support.

Recording of Presentations

·         No unauthorized audio or video recording devices will be allowed in any competitive event.

·         Competitors in the events should be aware FBLA reserves the right to record any presentation for use in study or training materials.

Penalty Points

·         Competitors may be disqualified if they violate the Competitive Event Guidelines or the Honor Code.

National

If competing on the National level, be sure to see the National guidelines at https://www.fbla.org/collegiate/competitive-events/