EX-99.1 3 f8k020204e991.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

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE FOR JANUARY 2004

HOUSTON, Feb. 2, 2004 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a record January systemwide mainline load factor of 71.4 percent, 3.5 points above last year's January load factor. In addition, the airline had a record January domestic mainline load factor of 69.5 percent, 1.8 points above January 2003, and a record international mainline load factor of 74.1 percent, 5.8 points above January 2003.

During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 79.9 percent and a systemwide mainline completion factor of 99.3 percent.

In January 2004, Continental flew 4.8 billion mainline revenue passenger miles

(RPMs) and 6.7 billion mainline available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a

traffic increase of 8.5 percent and a capacity increase of 3.2 percent as compared to

January 2003. Domestic mainline traffic was 2.7 billion RPMs in January 2004, up 5.1 percent from January 2003, and domestic mainline capacity was 3.9 billion ASMs, up 2.3 percent from January 2003.

Systemwide January 2004 passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 0.5 and 1.5 percent compared to January 2003. For December 2003, RASM increased 1.7 percent as compared to December 2002.

Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record January load factor of 61.3 percent, 4.9 points above last year's January load factor. Regional

RPMs were 470.0 million and regional ASMs were 766.9 million in January 2004, resulting in a traffic increase of 43.4 percent and a capacity increase of 31.9 percent versus January 2003.

 

Continental Airlines is the world's seventh-largest airline with more than 2,300 daily departures to 126 domestic and 101 international destinations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. With 42,000 mainline employees, the airline has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and carries approximately 51 million passengers per year. FORTUNE ranks Continental one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, an honor it has earned for six consecutive years. FORTUNE ranked the company highest among major U.S. carriers in the quality of its service and products, and No. 2 on its list of Most Admired Global Airlines in 2003. For more company information, visit continental.com.

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 2002 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. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this press release.

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PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

JANUARY

  

2004   

2003   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

2,727,792

2,596,084

5.1  Percent
         
 

International

2,034,454

1,792,390

13.5  Percent
 

Transatlantic

801,672

702,131

14.2  Percent 
 

Latin America

744,117

689,915

7.9  Percent 
 

Pacific

488,665

400,344

22.1  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

4,762,247

4,388,474

8.5  Percent
         
 

Regional

470,015

327,776

43.4  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,922,284

3,834,758

2.3  Percent
         
 

International

2,746,284

2,624,059

4.7  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,111,023

1,056,545

5.2  Percent 
 

Latin America

1,001,845

950,011

5.5  Percent 
 

Pacific

633,416

617,503

2.6  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

6,668,568

6,458,817

3.2  Percent
         
 

Regional

766,890

581,201

31.9  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

69.5 Percent

67.7 Percent

1.8  Points
         
 

International

74.1 Percent

68.3 Percent

5.8  Points
 

Transatlantic

72.2 Percent 

66.5 Percent 

5.7  Points 
 

Latin America

74.3 Percent 

72.6 Percent 

1.7  Points 
 

Pacific

77.1 Percent 

64.8 Percent 

12.3  Points 
         
 

Mainline

71.4 Percent

67.9 Percent

3.5  Points
         
 

Regional

61.3 Percent

56.4 Percent

4.9  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

75,636

70,087

7.9  Percent

 

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PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

JANUARY

  

2004 

2003 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

79.9%

85.4%

(5.5) Points

Completion Factor2

99.3%

99.8%

(0.5) Points
         

December 2003 consolidated breakeven load factor3,4

61.4  Percent

January 2004 estimated year-over-year RASM change

0.5-1.5 Percent

January 2004 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                       excluding fuel taxes

96.0 Cents   

January 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

81 Percent

January 2004 actual consolidated load factor5

70.4  Percent

February 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

78 Percent
 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR SYSTEM RASM6

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

(1.7) Percent

(18.4) Percent

  

December

10.1 Percent

(5.7) Percent

  
 

2003 vs. 2002

2003 vs. 2001

  

January

3.5 Percent

(11.0) Percent

  

February

(0.4) Percent

(11.3) Percent

  

March

(11.7) Percent

(17.4) Percent

  

April

(1.0) Percent

(11.3) Percent

  

May

2.0 Percent

(4.3) Percent

  

June

0.3 Percent

(5.2) Percent

  

July

4.9 Percent

0.7  Percent

  

August

4.4 Percent

1.5 Percent

  

September

5.3 Percent

16.7 Percent

  

October

4.4 Percent

14.1 Percent

  

November

5.5 Percent

3.7 Percent

  

December

1.7 Percent

12.0 Percent

  
 

2004 vs. 2003

2004 vs. 2002

  

January (estimated)

0.5-1.5 Percent

3.5-4.5 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 break even on a consolidated net income

basis. Actual consolidated breakeven load factor may vary significantly from estimates 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.

4 Included in the consolidated breakeven load factor are the following special items, which account for 12.6 percentage points: 1) net gain

on the sale of investment in Orbitz, 2) fair value adjustment of remaining investment in Orbitz following Orbitz's IPO, 3) revenue

adjustment for change in expected redemption of frequent flyer mileage credits sold, and 4) lease exit costs for permanently grounded

MD-80 aircraft.

5 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express

6 CAL has been releasing RASM data since May 2001

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