Southwest Airlines 1997 Annual Report Download - page 51

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51
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. ♥ FIVE SYMBOLS OF FREEDOM
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, 1997 and 1996, and the related consolidated
statements of income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years
in the period ended December 31, 1997. 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, 1997 and 1996, and the consolidated results of its operations and its
cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 1997, in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Dallas, Texas
January 23, 1998