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UNITED STATES |
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION |
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Washington, D.C. 20549 |
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FORM 8-K |
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CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT |
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TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE |
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SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): April 1, 2005 |
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CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC. |
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(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter) |
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DELAWARE |
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(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) |
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1-10323 |
74-2099724 |
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(Commission File Number) |
(IRS Employer Identification No.) |
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1600 Smith Street, Dept. HQSEO, Houston, Texas |
77002 |
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) |
(Zip Code) |
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(713) 324-2950 |
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(Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code) |
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______________________________________ |
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(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report) |
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
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Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
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Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act |
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(17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act |
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(17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
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Item 8.01. Other Events.
On April 1, 2005, we issued a press release announcing our March performance and our estimated consolidated breakeven load factor for April. The press release is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
- Exhibits
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99.1 |
Press Release for March Performance |
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SIGNATURE |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Continental Airlines, Inc. has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC. |
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April 1, 2005 |
By /s/ Jennifer L. Vogel __________ |
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Jennifer L. Vogel |
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Senior Vice President, General Counsel |
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EXHIBIT INDEX |
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99.1 |
Press Release for March Performance |
EXHIBIT 99.1
News Release
Contact:
Corporate CommunicationsHouston: 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 MARCH 2005
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
HOUSTON, April 1, 2005 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a March consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 80.5 percent, 5.6 points above last year's March consolidated load factor. The carrier reported a mainline load factor of 81.3 percent, 5.5 points above last year's March mainline load factor, and a domestic mainline load factor of 82.2 percent, 7.3 points above March 2004. All three were operational records for March. In addition, the airline had an international mainline March load factor of 80.1 percent, 2.9 points above March 2004.
Despite bad weather impacting its hub cities of New York, Houston and Cleveland throughout March, Continental had relatively few flight cancellations and maintained a systemwide mainline completion factor of 99.7 percent. The company recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 72.9 percent.
In March 2005, Continental flew 6.9 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 8.6 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic increase of 14.8 percent and a capacity increase of 7.0 percent as compared to March 2004. In March 2005, Continental flew 6.2 billion mainline RPMs and 7.6 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic increase of 13.5 percent and a mainline capacity increase of 5.8 percent as compared to March 2004. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.6 billion RPMs in March 2005, up 10.8 percent from March 2004, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.3 billion ASMs, up 0.9 percent from March 2004.
For the month of March 2005, consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 4.0 and 5.0 percent compared to March 2004, while mainline passenger RASM is estimated to have increased between 4.5 and 5.5 percent. For February 2005, consolidated passenger RASM increased 2.1 percent compared to February 2004 and mainline passenger RASM increased 3.0 percent. March 2005 year-over-year passenger RASM was positively impacted by the Easter holiday occurring in March this year while it occurred in April last year. Continental estimates that March 2005 consolidated and mainline passenger RASM both benefited by approximately 2.0 to 3.0 points due to the shift of Easter. The Easter shift is expected to have a corresponding negative impact on April year-over-year passenger RASM.
Continental ended the quarter with unrestricted cash and short-term investments of approximately $1.38 billion.
Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record March load factor of 74.2 percent, 6.4 points above last year's March load factor. Regional RPMs were 746.1 million and regional ASMs were 1,005.0 million in March 2005, resulting in a traffic increase of 27.6 percent and a capacity increase of 16.5 percent versus March 2004.
Continental Airlines is the world's sixth-largest airline with more than 3,000 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. The carrier serves 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 carries approximately 55 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." 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 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.
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PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS |
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Domestic |
3,571,219 |
3,222,418 |
10.8 |
Percent |
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International |
2,599,909 |
2,215,669 |
17.3 |
Percent |
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Transatlantic |
1,194,678 |
967,932 |
23.4 |
Percent |
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Latin America |
873,053 |
761,201 |
14.7 |
Percent |
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Pacific |
532,179 |
486,535 |
9.4 |
Percent |
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Mainline |
6,171,128 |
5,438,087 |
13.5 |
Percent |
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Regional |
746,054 |
584,853 |
27.6 |
Percent |
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Consolidated |
6,917,183 |
6,022,940 |
14.8 |
Percent |
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Domestic |
4,344,567 |
4,304,835 |
0.9 |
Percent |
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International |
3,247,280 |
2,869,388 |
13.2 |
Percent |
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Transatlantic |
1,438,806 |
1,196,607 |
20.2 |
Percent |
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Latin America |
1,101,040 |
1,044,365 |
5.4 |
Percent |
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Pacific |
707,434 |
628,415 |
12.6 |
Percent |
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Mainline |
7,591,847 |
7,174,223 |
5.8 |
Percent |
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Regional |
1,004,967 |
862,479 |
16.5 |
Percent |
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Consolidated |
8,596,814 |
8,036,702 |
7.0 |
Percent |
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Domestic |
82.2 Percent |
74.9 Percent |
7.3 |
Points |
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International |
80.1 Percent |
77.2 Percent |
2.9 |
Points |
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Transatlantic |
83.0 Percent |
80.9 Percent |
2.1 |
Points |
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Latin America |
79.3 Percent |
72.9 Percent |
6.4 |
Points |
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Pacific |
75.2 Percent |
77.4 Percent |
(2.2) |
Points |
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Mainline |
81.3 Percent |
75.8 Percent |
5.5 |
Points |
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Regional |
74.2 Percent |
67.8 Percent |
6.4 |
Points |
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Consolidated |
80.5 Percent |
74.9 Percent |
5.6 |
Points |
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Mainline |
4,078,136 |
3,695,619 |
10.4 |
Percent |
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Regional |
1,346,897 |
1,091,970 |
23.3 |
Percent |
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Consolidated |
5,425,033 |
4,787,589 |
13.3 |
Percent |
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Total |
93,726 |
92,597 |
1.2 |
Percent |
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PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS |
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Domestic |
9,161,367 |
8,658,331 |
5.8 |
Percent |
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International |
6,997,743 |
6,054,738 |
15.6 |
Percent |
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Transatlantic |
2,987,185 |
2,471,260 |
20.9 |
Percent |
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Latin America |
2,445,888 |
2,180,277 |
12.2 |
Percent |
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Pacific |
1,564,670 |
1,403,201 |
11.5 |
Percent |
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Mainline |
16,159,110 |
14,713,069 |
9.8 |
Percent |
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Regional |
1,952,690 |
1,541,512 |
26.7 |
Percent |
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Consolidated |
18,111,800 |
16,254,581 |
11.4 |
Percent |
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Domestic |
11,659,240 |
12,063,395 |
(3.4) |
Percent |
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International |
9,186,378 |
8,210,754 |
11.9 |
Percent |
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Transatlantic |
3,950,414 |
3,353,507 |
17.8 |
Percent |
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Latin America |
3,166,501 |
3,003,169 |
5.4 |
Percent |
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Pacific |
2,069,463 |
1,854,078 |
11.6 |
Percent |
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Mainline |
20,845,618 |
20,274,149 |
2.8 |
Percent |
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Regional |
2,739,940 |
2,399,512 |
14.2 |
Percent |
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Consolidated |
23,585,558 |
22,673,661 |
4.0 |
Percent |
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Domestic |
78.6 Percent |
71.8 Percent |
6.8 |
Points |
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International |
76.2 Percent |
73.7 Percent |
2.5 |
Points |
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Transatlantic |
75.6 Percent |
73.7 Percent |
1.9 |
Points |
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Latin America |
77.2 Percent |
72.6 Percent |
4.6 |
Points |
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Pacific |
75.6 Percent |
75.7 Percent |
(0.1) |
Points |
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Mainline |
77.5 Percent |
72.6 Percent |
4.9 |
Points |
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Regional |
71.3 Percent |
64.2 Percent |
7.1 |
Points |
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Consolidated |
76.8 Percent |
71.7 Percent |
5.1 |
Points |
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Mainline |
10,599,130 |
9,916,610 |
6.9 |
Percent |
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Regional |
3,523,680 |
2,892,753 |
21.8 |
Percent |
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Consolidated |
14,122,810 |
12,809,363 |
10.3 |
Percent |
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Total |
260,723 |
250,445 |
4.1 |
Percent |
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PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS |
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On-Time Performance 1 |
72.9% |
79.9% |
(7.0) |
Points |
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Completion Factor 2 |
99.7% |
99.7% |
- |
Points |
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YEAR-TO-DATE |
2005 |
2004 |
Change |
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On-Time Performance 1 |
75.8% |
79.9% |
(4.1) |
Points |
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Completion Factor 2 |
99.4% |
99.6% |
(0.2) |
Points |
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February 2005 year-over-year consolidated RASM change |
2.1 |
Percent |
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February 2005 year-over-year mainline RASM change |
3.0 |
Percent |
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March 2005 estimated year-over-year consolidated RASM change |
4.0-5.0 |
Percent |
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March 2005 estimated year-over-year mainline RASM change |
4.5-5.5 |
Percent |
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March 2005 estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including fuel taxes |
1.56 |
Dollars |
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March 2005 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor 3, 4 |
84 |
Percent |
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March 2005 actual consolidated load factor 5 |
80.5 |
Percent |
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April 2005 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor 3 |
83 |
Percent |
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1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes |
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2 Systemwide Mainline Mileage Completion Percentage |
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3 Consolidated load factor (including Continental Airlines and Continental Express) needed to break even on a |
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consolidated net income basis. Actual consolidated breakeven load factor may vary significantly from |
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estimates depending on actual passenger revenue yields, fuel price and other factors. Month-to-date consolidated |
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load factor information can be found on Continental's website at continental.com in the Investor Relations- |
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Financial/Traffic Releases section. |
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4 Non-cash curtailment charge related to pilots' pension plan increases breakeven load factor by 5 percentage points. |
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5 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express |
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