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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):

January 5, 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 January 5, 2004, we issued a press release announcing our December performance and our estimated consolidated breakeven load factor for January. The press release is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7.

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(c)

Exhibits
     
   

99.1

Press Release

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

January 5, 2004

By /s/ Jennifer L. Vogel                           
   

Jennifer L. Vogel
   

Senior Vice President, General Counsel
and Secretary

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

99.1

Press Release
   

 

 
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

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE FOR DECEMBER 2003

HOUSTON, Jan. 5, 2004 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a record December systemwide mainline load factor of 77.0 percent, 3.1 points above last year's December load factor. In addition, the airline had a record December domestic mainline load factor of 76.2 percent, 0.8 points above December 2002, and a record international mainline load factor of 78.1 percent, 6.7 points above December 2002.

During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 76.8 percent and a systemwide mainline completion factor of 99.1 percent.

In December 2003, Continental flew 5.2 billion mainline revenue passenger miles

(RPMs) and 6.7 billion mainline available seat miles (ASMs) systemwide, resulting in a

traffic increase of 7.6 percent and a capacity increase of 3.3 percent as compared to

December 2002. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.2 billion RPMs in December 2003, up 3.9 percent from December 2002, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.2 billion ASMs, up 2.7 percent from December 2002.

Systemwide December 2003 passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 0.5 and 1.5 percent compared to December 2002. For November 2003, systemwide RASM increased 5.5 percent as compared to November 2002. If the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving had occurred in December this year as it did last year, November 2003 systemwide RASM would have increased only about 3 percent year-over-year while December 2003 systemwide RASM would have increased between 3.0 percent and 4.0 percent year-over-year.

- more -

Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record December load factor of 70.6 percent, 3.1 points above last year's December load factor. Regional

RPMs were 555.1 million and regional ASMs were 786.0 million in December 2003, resulting in a traffic increase of 46.3 percent and a capacity increase of 39.9 percent versus December 2002.

Continental Airlines is the world's seventh-largest airline with more than 2,200 daily departures to 127 domestic and 96 international destinations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. With 42,000 mainline employees, the airline has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and carries approximately 41 million

passengers per year. Fortune ranks Continental one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, highest among major U.S. carriers in the quality of its service and products, and No. 2 on its list of Most Admired Global Airlines. 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 2002 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.

- more -

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

DECEMBER

  

2003   

2002   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

3,170,838

3,052,537

3.9  Percent
         
 

International

2,012,228

1,763,184

14.1  Percent
 

Transatlantic

861,823

737,911

16.8  Percent 
 

Latin America

689,897

661,408

4.3  Percent 
 

Pacific

460,508

363,865

26.6  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

5,183,066

4,815,721

7.6  Percent
         
 

Regional

555,088

379,299

46.3  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

4,159,219

4,050,753

2.7  Percent
         
 

International

2,575,430

2,469,117

4.3  Percent
 

Transatlantic

1,051,225

986,532

6.6  Percent 
 

Latin America

917,322

910,650

0.7  Percent 
 

Pacific

606,884

571,935

6.1  Percent 
         
 

Mainline

6,734,650

6,519,871

3.3  Percent
         
 

Regional

786,042

561,919

39.9  Percent
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

76.2 Percent

75.4 Percent

0.8  Points
         
 

International

78.1 Percent

71.4 Percent

6.7  Points
 

Transatlantic

82.0 Percent 

74.8 Percent 

7.2  Points 
 

Latin America

75.2 Percent 

72.6 Percent 

2.6  Points 
 

Pacific

75.9 Percent 

63.6 Percent 

12.3  Points 
         
 

Mainline

77.0 Percent

73.9 Percent

3.1  Points
         
 

Regional

70.6 Percent

67.5 Percent

3.1  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

77,509

74,334

4.3  Percent

 

- more -

 

 

FULL YEAR

  

2003   

2002   

Change   

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

36,215,173

36,117,740

0.3  Percent
         
 

International

22,951,755

23,224,670

(1.2) Percent
 

Transatlantic

10,574,615

10,476,350

0.9  Percent 
 

Latin America

7,635,614

7,499,208

1.8  Percent 
 

Pacific

4,741,526

5,249,112

(9.7) Percent 
         
 

Mainline

59,166,928

59,342,410

(0.3) Percent
         
 

Regional

5,769,162

3,946,914

46.2  Percent
         

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

    
 

Domestic

47,499,897

48,944,271

(3.0) Percent
         
 

International

30,890,164

31,182,047

(0.9) Percent
 

Transatlantic

13,713,065

13,496,122

1.6  Percent 
 

Latin America

10,382,554

10,521,296

(1.3) Percent 
 

Pacific

6,794,545

7,164,629

(5.2) Percent 
         
 

Mainline

78,390,061

80,126,318

(2.2) Percent
         
 

Regional

8,424,671

6,212,309

35.6  Percent 
         

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

    
 

Domestic

76.2 Percent

73.8 Percent

2.4  Points
         
 

International

74.3 Percent

74.5 Percent

(0.2) Points
 

Transatlantic

77.1 Percent 

77.6 Percent 

(0.5) Points 
 

Latin America

73.5 Percent 

71.3 Percent 

2.2  Points 
 

Pacific

69.8 Percent 

73.3 Percent 

(3.5) Points 
         
 

Mainline

75.5 Percent

74.1 Percent

1.4  Points
         
 

Regional

68.5 Percent

63.5 Percent

5.0  Points
         

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

    
 

Total

918,714

908,834

1.1  Percent

 

(more)

 

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

DECEMBER

  

2003 

2002 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

76.8%

76.4%

0.4  Points

Completion Factor2

99.1%

99.2%

(0.1) Points
         

FULL YEAR

  

2003 

2002 

Change  

On-Time Performance1

82.0%

83.5%

(1.5) Points

Completion Factor2

99.4%

99.7%

(0.3) Points
     

November 2003 consolidated breakeven load factor3,4

76.6  Percent

December 2003 estimated year-over-year RASM change

0.5-1.5 Percent

December 2003 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,

                       excluding fuel taxes

87.0 Cents   

December 2003 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3,5

66 Percent

December 2003 actual consolidated load factor6

76.3  Percent

January 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor3

77 Percent
 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR RASM7

2002 vs. 2001

2002 vs. 2000

  

May

(6.3) Percent

(15.1) Percent

  

June

(5.5) Percent

(15.5) Percent

  

July

(4.0) Percent

(13.5) Percent

  

August

(2.7) Percent

(15.2) Percent

  

September

10.8  Percent

(17.6) Percent

  

October

9.3  Percent

(15.7) Percent

  

November

(1.7) Percent

(18.4) Percent

  

December

10.1 Percent

(5.7) Percent

  
 

2003 vs. 2002

2003 vs. 2001

  

January

3.5 Percent

(11.0) Percent

  

February

(0.4) Percent

(11.3) Percent

  

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 (estimated)

0.5-1.5 Percent

10.5-11.5 Percent

  

1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

2 System 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 Net gain on sale of investment in Hotwire accounts for 5.2 percentage points in November 2003.

5 Net gain on sale of investment in Orbitz and mark to market of remaining investment in Orbitz following Orbitz's IPO accounts for

approximately 10 percentage points in December 2003.

6 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express

7 CAL has been releasing RASM data since May 2001

###