EX-99.1 2 f8k050304e991.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 APRIL 2004

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

HOUSTON, May 3, 2004 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported an April systemwide mainline load factor of 77.0 percent, 4.6 points above last year's April load factor. In addition, the airline had an April domestic mainline load factor of 78.0 percent, 2.5 points above April 2003, and an international mainline load factor of 75.6 percent, 8.1 points above April 2003. All three were operational records for April.

During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 78.6 percent and a systemwide mainline completion factor of 99.9 percent.

In April 2004, Continental flew 5.4 billion mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 7.0 billion mainline available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a traffic increase of 20.7 percent and a capacity increase of 13.4 percent as compared to April 2003. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.2 billion RPMs in April 2004, up 12.4 percent from April 2003, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.1 billion ASMs, up 8.7 percent from April 2003.

Systemwide April 2004 mainline passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 2.5 and 3.5 percent compared to April 2003. For March 2004, RASM increased 4.9 percent as compared to March 2003.

Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record April load factor of 70.7 percent, 3.8 points above last year's April load factor. Regional

RPMs were 606.4 million and regional ASMs were 857.1 million in April 2004, resulting in a traffic increase of 40.8 percent and a capacity increase of 33.1 percent versus April 2003.

Continental recorded a special charge of $10 million ($15 million before income taxes) associated with the permanent grounding of two MD-80 aircraft during April 2004.

Continental Airlines is the world's sixth-largest airline with more than 2,800 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Continental serves 149 domestic and 117 international destinations - more than any other airline in the world - and nearly 200 additional points are served via codeshare partner airlines. With 41,000 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 also ranks Continental as the top airline in its Most Admired Global Companies in 2004. 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 2003 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

APRIL

  

2004   

2003   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,218,031

2,863,111

12.4  Percent
         
 

International

2,171,420

1,601,053

35.6  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,013,118

720,468

40.6  Percent 
 

Latin America

720,148

618,421

16.4  Percent 
 

Pacific

438,154

262,163

67.1  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

5,389,452

4,464,165

20.7  Percent
         
 

Regional

606,367

430,508

40.8  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

4,123,551

3,793,620

8.7  Percent
         
 

International

2,871,601

2,373,327

21.0  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,254,636

1,002,239

25.2  Percent 
 

Latin America

1,009,621

900,503

12.1  Percent 
 

Pacific

607,345

470,585

29.1  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

6,995,153

6,166,947

13.4  Percent
         
 

Regional

857,093

643,806

33.1  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

78.0 Percent

75.5 Percent

2.5  Points
         
 

International

75.6 Percent

67.5 Percent

8.1  Points
 

Transatlantic

80.8 Percent 

71.9 Percent 

8.9  Points 
 

Latin America

71.3 Percent 

68.7 Percent 

2.6  Points 
 

Pacific

72.1 Percent 

55.7 Percent 

16.4  Points 
         
 

Mainline

77.0 Percent

72.4 Percent

4.6  Points
         
 

Regional

70.7 Percent

66.9 Percent

3.8  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

85,386

74,548

14.5  Percent

 

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YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2004   

2003   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

11,876,362

10,924,759

8.7  Percent
         
 

International

8,226,249

6,814,437

20.7  Percent
 

Transatlantic

3,484,378

2,828,788

23.2  Percent 
 

Latin America

2,900,425

2,607,969

11.2  Percent 
 

Pacific

1,841,446

1,377,680

33.7  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

20,102,611

17,739,196

13.3  Percent
         
 

Regional

2,147,891

1,508,896

42.3  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

16,186,946

15,133,894

7.0  Percent
         
 

International

11,082,465

10,111,610

9.6  Percent
 

Transatlantic

4,608,142

4,233,724

8.8  Percent 
 

Latin America

4,012,790

3,653,687

9.8  Percent 
 

Pacific

2,461,533

2,224,199

10.7  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

27,269,411

25,245,504

8.0  Percent
         
 

Regional

3,258,104

2,411,113

35.1  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

73.4 Percent

72.2 Percent

1.2  Points
         
 

International

74.2 Percent

67.4 Percent

6.8  Points
 

Transatlantic

75.6 Percent 

66.8 Percent 

8.8  Points 
 

Latin America

72.3 Percent 

71.4 Percent 

0.9  Points 
 

Pacific

74.8 Percent 

61.9 Percent 

12.9  Points 
         
 

Mainline

73.7 Percent

70.3 Percent

3.4  Points
         
 

Regional

66.0 Percent

62.6 Percent

3.3  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

335,831

308,122

9.0  Percent

 

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PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

APRIL

  

2004 

2003 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

78.6%

88.4%

(9.8) Points

Completion Factor2

99.9%

99.7%

0.2  Points
         

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2004 

2003 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

79.5%

83.6%

(4.1) Points

Completion Factor2

99.6%

99.0%

0.6  Points
         

March 2004 consolidated breakeven load factor3,4

76.2  Percent

April 2004 estimated year-over-year RASM change

2.5-3.5 Percent

April 2004 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                       including fuel taxes

106 Cents

April 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3,5

80 Percent

April 2004 actual consolidated load factor6

76.4 Percent

May 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3,7

77 Percent
 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR SYSTEMWIDE RASM

2003 vs. 2002

2003 vs. 2001

  

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

0.9 Percent

4.5 Percent

  

February

(2.5) Percent

(2.9) Percent

  

March

4.9 Percent

(7.4) Percent

  

April (estimated)

2.5-3.5 Percent

1.5-2.5 Percent

  

1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

2 System Mainline 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 Charge related to MD-80 aircraft retirements accounts for 1.5 percentage points.

5 Charge related to MD-80 aircraft retirements accounts for 2 percentage points.

6 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express

7 Charge related to MD-80 aircraft retirements accounts for 1 percentage point.

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