eBook Print tam Times Interest Earned 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 Prior Year Interest expense. Income before income tax expense $131,000,000 $114,000,000 3,164,000,000 3,265,000,000 a. Determine the times interest earned ratio te the current and preceding years. Round to one decimal place. Current year 29.6 X Prior year 29.6 b. Although Southwest Airlines had enough earnings to pay interest in both years, the decrease to debtholders. in this ratio is a cause for concern Check My Work Analysts assess the risk that bondholders will not receive their interest payments by computing the number of times interest charges are samed during the year. Because interest payments reduce income tax expense, the ratio is computed using income before tax.) Previous