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                                                                   EXHIBIT 99.2



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 ended
December 31, 1996, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.


                                                        ERNST & YOUNG LLP

                                                        /s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP

Dallas, Texas
January 23, 1997