SkyWest Airlines 2005 Annual Report Download - page 68

64
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
SkyWest, Inc.
We have audited management's assessment, included in the accompanying Report of Management on Internal Control Over Financial
Reporting, that SkyWest, Inc. maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on criteria
established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the
COSO criteria). SkyWest, Inc.'s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its
assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on management's
assessment and an opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was
maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, evaluating
management's assessment, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing such other
procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A
company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance
that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and
directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or
disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any
evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or
that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
As indicated in the accompanying Report of Management on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, management’s assessment of and
conclusion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting did not include the internal controls of Atlantic Southeast Airlines,
Inc., which is included in the 2005 consolidated financial statements of SkyWest, Inc. and constituted $1.8 billion and $444.7 million of total
assets and net assets, respectively, as of December 31, 2005 and $399.8 million of passenger revenue and for the year then ended. Atlantic
Southeast Airlines, Inc. was acquired by SkyWest, Inc. during 2005. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting of SkyWest, Inc. also
did not include an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc.
In our opinion, management's assessment that SkyWest, Inc. maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2005 is fairly stated, in all material respects, based on the COSO criteria. Also, in our opinion, SkyWest, Inc. maintained, in all material
respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2005, based on the COSO criteria.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated
balance sheets of SkyWest, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2005 and 2004, and the related consolidated statements of income,
stockholders' equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2005 of
SkyWest, Inc. and subsidiaries and our report dated March 9, 2006 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Salt Lake City, Utah
March 9, 2006