EX-99.1 2 f8k050305exh991.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/company/news/ Address: P.O. Box 4607, Houston, TX 77210-4607


CONTINENTAL AIRLINES REPORTS APRIL 2005

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

HOUSTON, May 2, 2005 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported an April consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 77.5 percent, 1.1 points above last year's April consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 78.2 percent, 1.2 points above last year's April mainline load factor. The carrier reported a domestic mainline load factor of 80.0 percent, 2.0 points above April 2004, and an international mainline April load factor of 75.9 percent, 0.3 points above April 2004. All four were operational records for April.

During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 80.4 percent and a systemwide mainline completion factor of 99.8 percent.

In April 2005, Continental flew 6.4 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 8.2 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic increase of 6.6 percent and a capacity increase of 5.1 percent as compared to April 2004. In April 2005, Continental flew 5.7 billion mainline RPMs and 7.3 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic increase of 5.6 percent and a mainline capacity increase of 4.0 percent as compared to April 2004. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.2 billion RPMs in April 2005, up 1.0 percent from April 2004, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.1 billion ASMs, down 1.5 percent from April 2004.

For the month of April 2005, both consolidated and mainline passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) are estimated to have increased between 2.0 and 3.0 percent compared to April 2004. For March 2005, consolidated passenger RASM increased 4.6 percent compared to March 2004 and mainline passenger RASM increased 5.3 percent.

Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record April load factor of 72.0 percent, 1.3 points above last year's April load factor. Regional RPMs were 700.1 million and regional ASMs were 972.2 million in April 2005, resulting in a traffic increase of 15.5 percent and a capacity increase of 13.4 percent versus April 2004.

Continental Airlines is the world's sixth-largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 3,000 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 150 domestic and 130 international destinations, more than any other carrier in the world. Nearly 400 additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines, which include Aeromexico, Air France/KLM, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines.  With 41,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with Continental Express, carries approximately 56 million passengers per year. Continental consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture.

For the second consecutive year, FORTUNE magazine named Continental the No. 1 Most Admired Global Airline on its 2005 list of Most Admired Global Companies. Continental was also included in the publication's annual "Top 50" list, which ranks all companies, across a wide variety of industries, that appear in the Global Most Admired Companies issue. Continental won major awards at the 2004 OAG Airline of the Year Awards including "Airline of the Year," "Best Airline Based in North America" and "Best Executive/Business Class."

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 2004 10-K and its other securities filings, which identify important matters such as the consequences of our significant financial losses and high leverage, terrorist attacks, domestic and international economic conditions, the significant cost of aircraft fuel, labor costs, competition, and industry conditions, including the demand for air travel, the airline pricing environment and industry

capacity decisions, regulatory matters and the seasonal nature of the airline business. In addition to the foregoing risks, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain the needed pay and benefit reductions from our flight attendants or that the ratified agreements with our pilots, mechanics, dispatchers and simulator engineers will enable us to achieve the cost reductions expected as a result of such agreements, which will depend, upon other matters, on timely and effective implementation of new work rules, actual productivity improvement, employee attrition, technology implementation, our level of business activity, relations with employees generally and the ultimate accuracy of certain assumptions on which our cost savings are based. 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.

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

APRIL

  

2005   

2004   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,249,637

3,218,033

1.0  Percent
         
 

International

2,244,048

2,171,308

12.4  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,194,072

1,013,118

17.9  Percent 
 

Latin America

771,938

720,148

7.2  Percent 
 

Pacific

474,038

438,042

8.2  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

5,689,686

5,389,341

5.6  Percent
 

Regional

700,073

606,368

15.5  Percent
 

Consolidated

6,389,759

5,995,709

6.6  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

4,060,741

4,123,551

(1.5) Percent
         
 

International

3,215,833

2,871,138

12.0  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,485,447

1,254,636

18.4  Percent 
 

Latin America

1,044,619

1,009,621

3.5  Percent 
 

Pacific

685,767

606,881

13.0  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

7,276,574

6,994,689

4.0  Percent
 

Regional

972,189

857,093

13.4  Percent
 

Consolidated

8,248,763

7,851,782

5.1  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

80.0 Percent

78.0 Percent

2.0  Points
         
 

International

75.9 Percent

75.6 Percent

0.3  Points
 

Transatlantic

80.4 Percent 

80.8 Percent 

(0.4) Points 
 

Latin America

73.9 Percent 

71.3 Percent 

2.6  Points 
 

Pacific

69.1 Percent 

72.2 Percent 

(3.1) Points 
         
 

Mainline

78.2 Percent

77.0 Percent

1.2  Points
 

Regional

72.0 Percent

70.7 Percent

1.3  Points
 

Consolidated

77.5 Percent

76.4 Percent

1.1  Points
         

ONBOARD PASSENGERS

    
 

Mainline

3,714,237

3,639,368

2.1  Percent
 

Regional

1,270,584

1,127,470

12.7  Percent
 

Consolidated

4,984,821

4,766,838

4.6  Percent
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

81,903

85,350

(4.0) Percent

 

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2005   

2004   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

12,411,004

11,876,364

4.5  Percent
         
 

International

9,437,792

8,226,137

14.7  Percent
 

Transatlantic

4,181,258

3,484,378

20.0  Percent 
 

Latin America

3,217,826

2,900,425

10.9  Percent 
 

Pacific

2,038,708

1,841,334

10.7  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

21,848,796

20,102,501

8.7  Percent
 

Regional

2,652,764

2,147,880

23.5  Percent
 

Consolidated

24,501,560

22,250,381

10.1  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

15,719,981

16,186,946

(2.9) Percent
         
 

International

12,402,212

11,082,001

11.9  Percent
 

Transatlantic

5,435,862

4,608,142

18.0  Percent 
 

Latin America

4,211,120

4,012,790

4.9  Percent 
 

Pacific

2,755,230

2,461,069

12.0  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

28,122,193

27,268,947

3.1  Percent
 

Regional

3,712,128

3,256,606

14.0  Percent
 

Consolidated

31,834,321

30,525,553

4.3  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

79.0 Percent

73.4 Percent

5.6  Points
         
 

International

76.1 Percent

74.2 Percent

1.9  Points
 

Transatlantic

76.9 Percent 

75.6 Percent 

1.3  Points 
 

Latin America

76.4 Percent 

72.3 Percent 

4.1  Points 
 

Pacific

74.0 Percent 

74.8 Percent 

(0.8) Points 
         
 

Mainline

77.7 Percent

73.7 Percent

4.0  Points
 

Regional

71.5 Percent

66.0 Percent

5.5  Points
 

Consolidated

77.0 Percent

72.9 Percent

4.1  Points
         

ONBOARD PASSENGERS

    
 

Mainline

14,313,367

13,555,978

5.6  Percent
 

Regional

4,794,264

4,020,223

19.3  Percent
 

Consolidated

19,107,631

17,576,201

8.7  Percent
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

342,627

335,795

2.0  Percent

 

 

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

APRIL

  

2005 

2004 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

80.4%

78.6%

1.8  Points

Completion Factor2

99.8%

99.9%

(0.1) Points
         

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2005 

2004 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

77.0%

79.5%

(2.5) Points

Completion Factor2

99.5%

99.6%

(0.1) Points
         

March 2005 consolidated breakeven load factor3,4

84.1  Percent

March 2005 year-over-year consolidated RASM change

4.6  Percent

March 2005 year-over-year mainline RASM change

5.3  Percent

April 2005 estimated year-over-year consolidated RASM change

2.0-3.0 Percent

April 2005 estimated year-over-year mainline RASM change

2.0-3.0 Percent

April 2005 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

  including fuel taxes


1.70 Dollars

April 2005 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3,5

75 Percent

April 2005 actual consolidated load factor6

77.5 Percent

May 2005 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

79 Percent
 

1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

2 Systemwide 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 Non-cash curtailment charge related to pilots' pension plan increased the breakeven load factor by 5 percentage points.

5 Gains related to the contribution of XJT shares to the pension plan decrease the breakeven load factor by 6 percentage points.

6 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express.

 

 

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