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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

August 2, 2004

 

 

 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

1-10323

74-2099724

(State or other jurisdiction

(Commission File Number)

(IRS Employer

of incorporation)

  

Identification No.)

 

1600 Smith Street, Dept. HQSEO, Houston, Texas

77002

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

(713) 324-2950

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Item 5. Other Events.

On August 2, 2004, we issued a press release announcing our July performance and our estimated consolidated breakeven load factor for August. The press release is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

    1. Exhibits
 

99.1

Press Release for July Performance

 

 

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.
 

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.

 

 

August 2, 2004

By   /s/ Jennifer L. Vogel      
 

        Jennifer L. Vogel
 

        Senior Vice President, General Counsel
        and Secretary

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

99.1

Press Release for July Performance

 

 
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 JULY 2004

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

HOUSTON, August 2, 2004 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported all-time records for its mainline systemwide, domestic, and international load factors for July. Systemwide mainline load factor was an all-time high of 86.1 percent, 1.6 points higher than its previous all-time record in July 2003. Domestic mainline load factor increased 0.8 points over the same period last year, to 86.5 percent. International mainline load factor was 85.6 percent, 3.1 points above July 2003 and 2.2 points higher than its previous all-time record in July 2000.

Despite bad weather impacting its hub cities of Houston, New York and Cleveland, Continental had 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 76.5 percent.

In July 2004, Continental flew 6.6 billion mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 7.7 billion mainline available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a traffic increase of 9.4 percent and a capacity increase of 7.3 percent as compared to July 2003. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.7 billion RPMs, down 0.5 percent from July 2003, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.3 billion ASMs, 1.4 percent lower than the same period last year.

Systemwide July 2004 mainline passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 2.0 and 3.0 percent compared to July 2003. For June 2004, RASM increased 1.3 percent compared to June 2003.

Continental's regional operations, marketed as Continental Express, posted an all-time record July load factor of 79.3 percent, 4.9 points above July 2003 and 2.3 points

(more)

 

higher than its previous all-time record in June 2004. Regional RPMs were 729.7 million

and regional ASMs were 920.1 million in July 2004, resulting in a traffic increase of 24.6 percent and a capacity increase of 16.9 percent versus July 2003.

Continental Airlines is the world's sixth-largest airline with more than 2,900 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Continental serves 149 domestic and 119 international destinations - more than any other airline in the world - and nearly 200 additional points are served via codeshare partner 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. FORTUNE ranks Continental one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, an honor it has earned for six consecutive years, and also ranks Continental as the top airline in its Most Admired Global Companies in 2004. The carrier 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 informa tion, 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.

 

 

 

 

 

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

JULY

  

2004   

2003   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,706,430

3,725,317

(0.5) Percent
         
 

International

2,879,913

2,296,687

25.4  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,419,329

1,099,947

29.0  Percent 
 

Latin America

924,931

789,397

17.2  Percent 
 

Pacific

535,652

407,343

31.5  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

6,586,343

6,022,004

9.4  Percent
         
 

Regional

729,729

585,491

24.6  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

4,286,109

4,346,931

(1.4) Percent
         
 

International

3,364,759

2,782,629

20.9  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,642,830

1,301,973

26.2  Percent 
 

Latin America

1,077,609

922,940

16.8  Percent 
 

Pacific

644,320

557,716

15.5  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

7,650,867

7,129,559

7.3  Percent
         
 

Regional

920,054

787,178

16.9  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

86.5 Percent

85.7 Percent

0.8  Points
         
 

International

85.6 Percent

82.5 Percent

3.1  Points
 

Transatlantic

86.4 Percent 

84.5 Percent 

1.9  Points 
 

Latin America

85.8 Percent 

85.5 Percent 

0.3  Points 
 

Pacific

83.1 Percent 

73.0 Percent 

10.1  Points 
         
 

Mainline

86.1 Percent

84.5 Percent

1.6  Points
         
 

Regional

79.3 Percent

74.4 Percent

4.9  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

83,961

75,414

11.3  Percent

 

 

 

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2004   

2003   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

22,135,896

21,014,021

5.3  Percent
         
 

International

15,993,242

12,958,441

23.4  Percent
 

Transatlantic

7,366,967

5,796,656

27.1  Percent 
 

Latin America

5,232,344

4,686,634

11.6  Percent 
 

Pacific

3,393,931

2,475,151

37.1  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

38,129,138

33,972,462

12.2  Percent
         
 

Regional

4,177,677

3,119,679

33.9  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

28,784,062

27,478,136

4.8  Percent
         
 

International

20,693,161

17,899,540

15.6  Percent
 

Transatlantic

9,260,440

7,801,287

18.7  Percent 
 

Latin America

7,080,573

6,318,058

12.1  Percent 
 

Pacific

4,352,148

3,780,195

15.1  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

49,477,223

45,377,676

9.0  Percent
         
 

Regional

5,924,530

4,627,268

28.0  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

76.9 Percent

76.5 Percent

0.4  Points
         
 

International

77.3 Percent

72.4 Percent

4.9  Points
 

Transatlantic

79.6 Percent 

74.3 Percent 

5.3  Points 
 

Latin America

73.9 Percent 

74.2 Percent 

(0.3) Points 
 

Pacific

78.0 Percent 

65.5 Percent 

12.5  Points 
         
 

Mainline

77.1 Percent

74.9 Percent

2.2  Points
         
 

Regional

70.5 Percent

67.4 Percent

3.1  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

582,825

533,972

9.1  Percent

 

 

 

 

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

JULY

  

2004 

2003 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

76.5%

80.4%

(3.9) Points

Completion Factor2

99.7%

99.8%

(0.1) Points
         

YEAR-TO-DATE

  

2004 

2003 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

77.0%

83.3%

(6.3) Points

Completion Factor2

99.6%

99.4%

0.2  Points
         

June 2004 consolidated breakeven load factor3,4

77.3  Percent

July 2004 estimated year-over-year RASM change

2.0-3.0  Percent

July 2004 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                       including fuel taxes


1.14 Dollars

July 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3,5

79 Percent

July 2004 actual consolidated load factor6

85.4 Percent

August 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3,7

78 Percent
 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR MAINLINE SYSTEMWIDE RASM

    
 

2003 vs. 2002

2003 vs. 2001

  

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

3.1 Percent

2.1 Percent

  

May

(3.0) Percent

(1.1) Percent

  

June

1.3 Percent

1.6 Percent

  

July (estimated)

2.0-3.0 Percent

7.0-8.0 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 1.2 percentage point.

5 Expenses related to net fair market value adjustment of trading securities for 1 percentage point.

6 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express.

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

 

 

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