Southwest Airlines 1996 Annual Report Download - page 49

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49
REPORT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Southwest Airlines
Co. as of December 31, 1996 and 1995, and the related consolidated statements of income,
stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December
31, 1996. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining,
on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An
audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that
our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material
respects, the consolidated financial position of Southwest Airlines Co. at December 31, 1996 and
1995, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years
in the period ending December 31, 1996, in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Dallas, Texas
January 23, 1997