The album also features guest appearances by Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low and American recording artist Cassadee Pope.

[5] Yellowcard began writing and recording early in 2012, shortly after the touring cycle for When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes (2011).

On February 3, it was announced that bassist Sean O'Donnell left the band to focus on his upcoming family.

[12] Sessions were held at East West Recording Studios, and The Casita, with producer Neal Avron.

Him and Erich Talaba handled recording; they were assisted by Brendan Dekora at East West.

Avron mixed the recordings with assistance from Nicolas Fournier, before Ted Jensen mastered the album at Sterling Sound.

[15] Other Guest vocalists on the album include Cassadee Pope of Hey Monday and Tay Jardine of We Are the In Crowd.

At Metacritic, which assigns an average rating out of 100 from mainstream critics, Southern Air received a score of 83, indicating universal acclaim.