UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K/A

 

CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT

TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 2, 2004

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

DELAWARE

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)

1-10323

74-2099724

(Commission File Number)

(IRS Employer 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)

______________________________________

(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):

 

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act

(17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act

(17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Explanatory Note

This amendment to Form 8-K is being filed solely to correct a typographical error contained in the title of the news release that was filed as Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K, dated December 1, 2004 and filed on December 2, 2004 (the "Original 8-K"). This amendment amends and restates in its entirety the Original 8-K.

Item 8.01. Other Events.

On December 1, 2004, we issued a press release announcing our November performance and our estimated consolidated breakeven load factor for December. The press release is filed herewith as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

    1. Exhibits

 

99.1

Press Release for November 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.

 

 

December 2, 2004

By   __________________

 

        Chris Kenny

 

        Vice President and Controller

   

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

99.1

Press Release for December 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 NOVEMBER 2004

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

HOUSTON, Dec. 1, 2004 - Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported a November consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 77.0 percent, 2.2 points above last year's November consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 77.6 percent, 2.3 points above last year's November mainline load factor. The carrier reported a domestic mainline load factor of 77.5 percent, 2.8 points above November 2003, and an international mainline load factor of 77.7 percent, 1.4 points above November 2003. All four were operational records for November.

During the month, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation on-time arrival rate of 77.8 percent and a mainline completion factor of 99.9 percent. The carrier reported 20 days in November 2004 with a completion factor of 100 percent, a new monthly record for the airline. To date, Continental has also reported 116 days in 2004 with a completion factor of 100 percent, a new yearly record.

In November 2004, Continental flew 5.9 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 7.6 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic increase of 11.2 percent and a capacity increase of 7.9 percent as compared to November 2003. In November 2004, Continental flew 5.2 billion mainline RPMs and 6.7 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic increase of 10.1 percent and a mainline capacity increase of 6.9 percent as compared to November 2003. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.1 billion RPMs in November 2004, up 6.1 percent from November 2003, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.0 billion ASMs, up 2.3 percent from November 2003.

For the month of November 2004, consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 0.5 and 1.5 percent compared to November 2003, while mainline RASM is estimated to have increased between 0.0 and 1.0 percent. November 2004 consolidated and mainline RASM performance both benefited by approximately 2 points due to the movement of the Thanksgiving holiday return traffic on Monday and Tuesday from December last year to November this year. For October 2004, consolidated RASM increased 0.5 percent and mainline RASM increased 0.9 percent compared to October 2003.

Continental's regional operations (Continental Express) set a record November load factor of 72.8 percent, 2.6 points above last year's November load factor. Regional RPMs were 634.8 million and regional ASMs were 871.6 million in November 2004, resulting in a traffic increase of 21.2 percent and a capacity increase of 16.9 percent versus November 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 400 additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With 41,000 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 informat ion, 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 releas e.

 

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

NOVEMBER

2004

2003

Change


REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

Domestic

3,089,870

2,911,751

6.1

Percent

International

2,137,204

1,834,286

16.5

Percent

Transatlantic

1,046,948

839,036

24.8

Percent

Latin America

618,690

567,584

9.0

Percent

Pacific

471,566

427,666

10.3

Percent

Mainline

5,227,074

4,746,038

10.1

Percent

Regional

634,757

523,613

21.2

Percent

Consolidated

5,861,831

5,269,650

11.2

Percent


AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

Domestic

3,985,404

3,897,664

2.3

Percent

International

2,750,968

2,405,252

14.4

Percent

Transatlantic

1,273,183

1,058,339

20.3

Percent

Latin America

858,522

788,703

8.9

Percent

Pacific

619,263

558,210

10.9

Percent

Mainline

6,736,372

6,302,916

6.9

Percent

Regional

871,595

745,633

16.9

Percent

Consolidated

7,607,967

7,048,549

7.9

Percent


PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

Domestic

77.5 Percent

74.7 Percent

2.8

Points

International

77.7 Percent

76.3 Percent

1.4

Points

Transatlantic

82.2 Percent

79.3 Percent

2.9

Points

Latin America

72.1 Percent

72.0 Percent

0.1

Points

Pacific

76.1 Percent

76.6 Percent

-0.5

Points

Mainline

77.6 Percent

75.3 Percent

2.3

Points

Regional

72.8 Percent

70.2 Percent

2.6

Points

Consolidated

77.0 Percent

74.8 Percent

2.2

Points


ONBOARD PASSENGERS

Mainline

3,474,238

3,259,644

6.6

Percent

Regional

1,175,956

986,382

19.2

Percent

Consolidated

4,650,194

4,246,026

9.5

Percent


CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

Total

88,978

78,198

13.8

Percent

 

 

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

YEAR-TO-DATE

2004

2003

Change


REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

Domestic

34,715,320

33,044,334

5.1

Percent

International

25,496,222

20,939,528

21.8

Percent

Transatlantic

12,376,182

9,712,792

27.4

Percent

Latin America

7,776,338

6,945,718

12.0

Percent

Pacific

5,343,702

4,281,018

24.8

Percent

Mainline

60,211,542

53,983,862

11.5

Percent

Regional

6,753,656

5,214,073

29.5

Percent

Consolidated

66,965,198

59,197,935

13.1

Percent


AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

Domestic

44,819,299

43,340,678

3.4

Percent

International

32,720,870

28,314,734

15.6

Percent

Transatlantic

15,318,280

12,661,840

21.0

Percent

Latin America

10,559,919

9,465,232

11.6

Percent

Pacific

6,842,671

6,187,662

10.6

Percent

Mainline

77,540,169

71,655,412

8.2

Percent

Regional

9,475,047

7,638,629

24.0

Percent

Consolidated

87,015,216

79,294,041

9.7

Percent


PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

Domestic

77.5 Percent

76.2 Percent

1.3

Points

International

77.9 Percent

74.0 Percent

3.9

Points

Transatlantic

80.8 Percent

76.7 Percent

4.1

Points

Latin America

73.6 Percent

73.4 Percent

0.2

Points

Pacific

78.1 Percent

69.2 Percent

8.9

Points

Mainline

77.7 Percent

75.3 Percent

2.4

Points

Regional

71.3 Percent

68.3 Percent

3.0

Points

Consolidated

77.0 Percent

74.7 Percent

2.3

Points


ONBOARD PASSENGERS

Mainline

39,119,516

37,091,811

5.5

Percent

Regional

12,538,066

10,415,350

20.4

Percent

Consolidated

51,657,582

47,507,161

8.7

Percent


CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

Total

934,605

841,205

11.1

Percent

 

 

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESULTS


NOVEMBER


2004


2003


Change

On-Time Performance 1

77.8%

78.7%

(0.9)

Points

Completion Factor 2

99.9%

99.5%

0.4

Points


YEAR-TO-DATE


2004


2003


Change

On-Time Performance 1

79.2%

82.5%

(3.3)

Points

Completion Factor 2

99.6%

99.5%

0.1

Points

October 2004 consolidated breakeven load factor 3

86.9

Percent

November 2004 estimated year-over-year consolidated RASM change

0.5-1.5

Percent

November 2004 estimated year-over-year mainline RASM change

0.0-1.0

Percent

November 2004 estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including fuel taxes

1.44

Dollars

November 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor 3

88

Percent

November 2004 actual consolidated load factor 4

77.0

Percent

December 2004 estimated consolidated breakeven load factor 3,5

87

Percent


YEAR-OVER-YEAR CONSOLIDATED RASM

2003 vs 2002

2003 vs 2001

October

6.1 Percent

17.1 Percent

November

7.0 Percent

6.3 Percent

December

2.3 Percent

14.0 Percent

2004 vs 2003

2004 vs 2002

January

1.7 Percent

6.1 Percent

February

(1.0) Percent

(0.3) Percent

March

6.1 Percent

(4.2) Percent

April

3.8 Percent

4.8 Percent

May

(2.0) Percent

1.5 Percent

June

1.9 Percent

4.1 Percent

July

2.9 Percent

9.8 Percent

August

(0.5) Percent

5.0 Percent

September

(1.2) Percent

6.0 Percent

October

0.5 Percent

6.7 Percent

November (estimated)

0.5-1.5 Percent

7.5-8.5 Percent

 

 

YEAR-OVER-YEAR MAINLINE RASM

2003 vs 2002

2003 vs 2001

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

2.8 Percent

7.8 Percent

August

(1.1) Percent

3.2 Percent

September

(1.0) Percent

4.2 Percent

October

0.9 Percent

5.3 Percent

November (estimated)

0.0-1.0 Percent

5.5-6.5 Percent

1 Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes

2 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 Includes Continental Airlines and Continental Express

5 Charges related to MD-80 aircraft retirements account for 2 percentage points.

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