Southwest Airlines 2011 Annual Report Download - page 123

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Southwest Airlines Co.
We have audited Southwest Airlines Co.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31,
2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Southwest Airlines Co.’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 included in the accompanying
“Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.” Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on 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, assessing the risk that a
material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based
on the assessed risk, 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.
In our opinion, Southwest Airlines Co. maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2011, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheet of Southwest Airlines Co. as of December 31, 2011 and
2010, and the related consolidated statement of income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the each of the
three years in the period ended December 31, 2011 of Southwest Airlines Co. and our report dated February 9,
2012 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Dallas, Texas
February 9, 2012
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