Continental Airlines reported a September consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of…
Continental Airlines reported a September consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 74.5 percent, 2.8 points above last year`s September consolidated load factor. The carrier reported a mainline load factor of 75.2 percent, 2.9 points above last year`s September mainline load factor and a domestic mainline load factor of 74.3 percent, 3.0 points above September 2003. All three were operational records for September. In addition, the airline had an international mainline September load factor of 76.4 percent, 2.6 points above September 2003.
During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 85.9 percent and a mainline completion factor of 98.4 percent. The three major hurricanes in September — Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne — had a minimal effect on Continental Airlines` hub operations and together are estimated to have cost the carrier approximately $6 million in revenue.
In September 2004, Continental flew 5.6 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 7.6 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic increase of 11.8 percent and a capacity increase of 7.7 percent as compared to September 2003. In September 2004, Continental flew 5.1 billion mainline RPMs and 6.7 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a traffic increase of 11.0 percent and a capacity increase of 6.8 percent as compared to September 2003. Domestic mainline traffic was 2.8 billion RPMs in September 2004, up 5.6 percent from September 2003, and domestic mainline capacity was 3.8 billion ASMs, up 1.3 percent from September 2003.
For the month of September 2004, both consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have decreased between 1.0 and 2.0 percent compared to September 2003. For August 2004, consolidated RASM decreased 0.5 percent compared to August 2003 and mainline RASM decreased 1.1 percent.
Continental ended the quarter with unrestricted cash and short-term investments of approximately $1.54 billion.
Continental`s regional operations (Continental Express) set a record September load factor of 69.2 percent, 2.3 points above last year`s September load factor. Regional RPMs were 577.4 million and regional ASMs were 834.9 million in September 2004, resulting in a traffic increase of 19.5 percent and a capacity increase of 15.5 percent versus September 2003.
Continental Airlines is the world`s sixth-largest airline with more than 3,000 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Continental serves 151 domestic and 120 international destinations — more than any other airline in the world — and nearly 200 additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With 42,000 employees, the airline has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and carries approximately 51 million passengers per year. In 2004, Continental has earned awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture.
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