Number of times interest charges are earned OBJ. 6 The following data were taken from recent annual reports of Southwest Airlines, which operates a low-fare airline service to more than 50 cities in the United States:

Current Year Preceding Year Interest expense $147,000,000 $194,000,000 Income before income tax 685,000,000 323,000,000

a. Determine the number of times interest charges are earned for the current and preceding years. Round to one decimal place.

b. What conclusions can you draw?