EX-99.1 3 f8k120202e991.htm EXHIBIT 99.1 News Release

EXHIBIT 99.1

News Release

Contact: Corporate Communications

Houston: 713.324.5080

Email: corpcomm@coair.com

News archive: continental.com/news/ Address: P.O. Box 4607, Houston, TX 77210-4607

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS NOVEMBER 2002 PERFORMANCE

HOUSTON, Dec. 2, 2002 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a November 2002 systemwide mainline jet load factor of 69.7 percent, 1.7 points below last year's November load factor. The November 2002 domestic mainline jet load factor was 70.2 percent and the international mainline jet load factor was 69.0 percent. The movement of the busy Thanksgiving return days, Sunday and Monday, from November to December this year accounted for a decrease of about two points for domestic mainline jet load factor.

In the attached charts, Continental provides traffic results for 2002, 2001 and 2000 because the events of Sept. 11, 2001 skew year-over-year comparisons of 2002 and 2001.

The airline reported an on-time arrival rate of 83.6 percent and a completion factor of 99.8 percent for its mainline jet operations in November 2002.

In November 2002, Continental flew 4.4 billion mainline jet revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 6.3 billion mainline jet available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a traffic increase of 3.6 percent and a capacity increase of 6.0 percent as compared to November 2001. Domestic mainline jet traffic was 2.7 billion RPMs in November 2002, down 3.4 percent from November 2001, and November 2002 domestic mainline jet capacity was 3.9 billion ASMs, up 1.7 percent from November 2001.

Systemwide November 2002 mainline jet passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have decreased between 1 and 3 percent compared to November 2001 and decreased between 18 and 20 percent compared to November 2000. The movement of the Thanksgiving return days into December accounted for a decrease of approximately 3 percentage points in RASM. For October 2002, RASM increased 9.3 percent as compared to October 2001 and declined 15.7 percent as compared to October 2000.

 

NOVEMBER 2002 OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE/PAGE 2

Consolidated breakeven load factor for December 2002 is estimated to be 86 percent. Consolidated breakeven load factor for November 2002 is estimated to have been 85 percent. Actual consolidated breakeven load factor may vary significantly from this estimate depending on actual passenger revenue yields, fuel price and other factors. Month-to-date consolidated load factor information can be found on Continental's website at continental.com in the Investor Relations-Financial/Traffic Releases section.

ExpressJet Airlines, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines doing business as Continental Express, separately reported a November load factor of 63.1 percent for November 2002, 0.4 points below last year's November load factor. ExpressJet flew 345.2 million RPMs and 546.7 million ASMs in November 2002, resulting in a traffic increase of 22.8 percent and a capacity increase of 23.6 percent versus November 2001.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not limited to historical facts, but reflect the Company's current beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future events. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. For examples of such risks and uncertainties, please see the risk factors set forth in the Company's 2001 10-K and its other securities filings, which identify important matters such as terrorist attacks, domestic and international economic conditions, the significant cost of aircraft fuel, labor costs, competition, regulatory matters and industry conditions, including the demand for air travel, the airline pricing environment and industry capacity decisions.

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NOVEMBER 2002 PERFORMANCE/PAGE 3

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

 

NOVEMBER

2002

2001

2000

Change
         

2002 vs. 2001

2002 vs. 2000

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

      
 

Domestic

2,728,274

2,822,972

3,240,160

(3.4) Percent

(15.8) Percent
             
 

International

1,643,973

1,398,482

1,827,585

17.6  Percent

(10.0) Percent
 

Transatlantic

720,767

625,848

847,249

15.2  Percent

(14.9) Percent
 

Latin America

548,771

500,971

610,076

9.5  Percent

(10.0) Percent
 

Pacific

374,436

271,663

370,259

37.8  Percent

1.1  Percent
             
 

Total Jet

4,372,247

4,221,454

5,067,745

3.6  Percent

(13.7) Percent
             
 

ExpressJet

345,175

281,002

264,446

22.8  Percent

30.5  Percent
             

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

      
 

Domestic

3,887,985

3,821,319

4,385,520

1.7  Percent

(11.3) Percent
             
 

International

2,381,460

2,092,560

2,594,312

13.8  Percent

(8.2) Percent
 

Transatlantic

986,702

912,844

1,183,972

8.1  Percent

(16.7) Percent
 

Latin America

817,573

719,904

881,736

13.6  Percent

(7.3) Percent
 

Pacific

577,185

459,812

528,604

25.5  Percent

9.2  Percent
             
 

Total Jet

6,269,445

5,915,878

6,979,831

6.0  Percent

(10.2) Percent
             
 

ExpressJet

546,736

442,300

424,696

23.6  Percent

28.7  Percent
             

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

      
 

Domestic

70.2 Percent

73.8 Percent

73.9 Percent

(3.6) Points

(3.7) Points
             
 

International

69.0 Percent

66.8 Percent

70.4 Percent

2.2  Points

(1.4) Points
 

Transatlantic

73.0 Percent

68.6 Percent

71.6 Percent

4.4  Points

1.4  Points
 

Latin America

67.1 Percent

69.6 Percent

69.2 Percent

(2.5) Points

(2.1) Points
 

Pacific

64.9 Percent

59.1 Percent

70.0 Percent

5.8  Points

(5.1) Points
             
 

Total Jet

69.7 Percent

71.4 Percent

72.6 Percent

(1.7) Points

(2.9) Points
             
 

ExpressJet

63.1 Percent

63.5 Percent

62.3 Percent

(0.4) Points

0.8  Points
             

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

      
 

Total

82,887

65,572

91,925

26.4  Percent

(9.8) Percent

 

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NOVEMBER 2002 PERFORMANCE/PAGE 4

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2002

2001

Change

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

33,063,412

35,261,554

(6.2) Percent
         
 

International

21,455,773

21,363,670

0.4  Percent
 

Transatlantic

9,736,380

9,557,685

1.9  Percent
 

Latin America

6,835,597

7,021,804

(2.7) Percent
 

Pacific

4,883,796

4,784,181

2.1  Percent
         
 

Total Jet

54,519,185

56,625,224

(3.7) Percent
         
 

ExpressJet

3,567,610

3,107,677

14.8  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

44,892,909

48,562,295

(7.6) Percent
         
 

International

28,706,877

29,711,298

(3.4) Percent
 

Transatlantic

12,507,448

12,868,997

(2.8) Percent
 

Latin America

9,607,857

9,802,849

(2.0) Percent
 

Pacific

6,591,572

7,039,452

(6.4) Percent
         
 

Total Jet

73,599,786

78,273,593

(6.0) Percent
         
 

ExpressJet

5,650,390

4,982,515

13.4  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

73.6 Percent

72.6 Percent

1.0  Points
         
 

International

74.7 Percent

71.9 Percent

2.8  Points
 

Transatlantic

77.8 Percent

74.3 Percent

3.5 Points
 

Latin America

71.1 Percent

71.6 Percent

(0.5) Points
 

Pacific

74.1 Percent

68.0 Percent

6.1  Points
         
 

Total Jet

74.1 Percent

72.3 Percent

1.8  Points
         
 

ExpressJet

63.1 Percent

62.4 Percent

0.7  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

834,500

852,031

(2.1) Percent

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NOVEMBER 2002 PERFORMANCE/PAGE 5

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

NOVEMBER

2002

2001

Change

On-Time Performance1

83.6%

85.9%

(2.3) Points
         

Completion Factor2

99.8%

99.5%

0.3  Points
       
         

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2002

2001

Change

On-Time Performance1

84.1%

80.6%

3.5  Points
         

Completion Factor2

99.8%

97.5%

2.3  Points
       
         

October 2002 actual consolidated breakeven load factor3

79.3  Percent
         

November 2002 estimated year-over-year RASM change

(1-3) Percent
         

November 2002 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                           excluding fuel taxes

81 Cents   
         

November 2002 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

85 Percent
         

November 2002 actual consolidated load factor4

69.2  Percent
         

December 2002 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

86 Percent
 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR RASM5

2002 vs. 2001

2002 vs. 2000

  

May

(6.3) Percent

(15.1) Percent

  

June

(5.5) Percent

(15.5) Percent

  

July

(4.0) Percent

(13.5) Percent

  

August

(2.7) Percent

(15.2) Percent

  

September

10.8  Percent

(17.6) Percent

  

October

9.3  Percent

(15.7) Percent

  

November (estimated)

(1-3) Percent

(18-20) Percent

  

1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

2 System Mileage Completion Percentage

3 Consolidated load factor (including Continental Airlines and Continental Express) needed to breakeven on a

consolidated net income basis

4 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express

5 Continental Airlines has been releasing RASM data since May 2001

 

 

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